Lisandro Martinez has enjoyed a fantastic start to life at Old Trafford and believes Manchester United are becoming more accustomed to Erik ten Hag’s methods.
In an interview with Sky Sports News, Martinez said, “Sometimes we have to be patient, you know.
“Especially in the beginning, we know that we did not play how we wanted. But it is part of football, we learn. It is experience. We have a new team, a new system. Now we have to keep going.
“It is difficult. Especially in football, you don’t have time. If you lose you are a really bad player or a really bad team. But we know what we are. We have to be calm, we have to be patient, and always try hard.”
The Argentine knows how extreme the criticism can be as well an anybody, having been told by pundit Jamie Carragher that he “couldn’t play” at centre back in the Premier League following his half-time withdrawal during United’s 4-0 defeat at Brentford.
He has since shown that may as well be 9’5” given his ability to handle the league’s most physical centre forwards.
The ‘Butcher’ worked with Raphael Varane to keep Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son practically chanceless on Wednesday night.
“We did a great job. We controlled the game, the whole 90 minutes. I think they had only one chance in the first half and then we were solid in defence.
“I am really happy because we tried really hard to play at this level. We want to play this way. It is fantastic to do it.”
Martinez’s appreciation of the rougher side of the game is apparent, noting that “football is always physical.” But it has become impossible to undermine his ability in that frontier.
He has won possession in his own defensive third 43 times already this season, ranking him above any of his teammates, and third in the league overall in that metric.
Winning his duels as frequently as he does has allowed those higher up the pitch to be more single-minded in their roles:
“They can then only think to score goals.”
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