Graham Souness slams Lisandro Martinez’s ‘physique’ AGAIN despite good form

Graeme Souness has doubled down on his claims that Man United’s Lisandro Martinez will struggle to be ‘successful’ in the Premier League.

Martinez arrived at Old Trafford from Ajax this summer in a deal worth up to £57million and has been praised by United fans for the positive impact he’s had on their defence.

However, Souness is not quite as convinced as others and instead insisted that the Argentine will eventually be ‘caught’ out due to his lack of height. 

Graeme Souness insists he still not convinced over Lisandro Martinez’s move to Man United

The former Liverpool man went on to say that Martinez isn’t ‘quick’ or ‘terribly good on the ball’

The pundit claims that Martinez’s ‘physique’ will see him ‘caught’ out by taller opponents

Speaking on TalkSport, Souness said: ‘They’ve [Man United] got better players in. Whoever’s responsible for that, they deserve a pat on the back.

When asked specifically on Martinez, he claimed: ‘That worry for me is still there. If you watch at set-pieces, he still uses a blocker or they use him on the near post. He’s not got the physique to take on the big guys and man-mark them.

‘I think he’s brought a bit of aggression to them. He definitely has. My experience in the dressing rooms are, if you’ve got a couple people that are willing to stand up and fight, you’ve got several people coming in behind you.’

Martinez had seemingly eased people’s concerns over his 5ft 9in frame having picked up five clean sheets from his last six appearances for United. Though Souness still has his doubts.

Standing at 5ft 9in, Martinez is considerably smaller than other Premier League defenders

He continued: ‘There’s a lot to like about him. I like his aggression. The first thing he did, when he played Liverpool, he’s gone right through Mo Salah early on. For the rest of the game, Salah was looking for him. I like that.

‘I just feel, when you’re that size, you’ll get caught. You’ll get pinned in the box. I don’t think he’s terribly quick. I don’t think he’s terribly good on the ball. But he’s got something about him that makes other people play [well].

‘5ft 9in and he’s playing against guys that are 6ft 2in. I can’t tell you a centre-back, in my time in the English game, that’s been super successful being that size.’

Martinez was Erik ten Hag’s top defensive target this summer as the United boss looked to reinvent their back-line that had previously caused a lot of issues. 

United fans have overlooked concerns of his size due to his aggression shown in matches

Erik ten Hag viewed Martinez as the number one option in his rebuild of United’s defence

Souness has taken aim at the United No. 6 multiple times now and insisted Martinez would be a failure after their consecutive losses in the first two games of the season.

‘I was watching the game at the weekend, they [Southampton] were putting Che Adams up against him and the goalkeeper and other members of that Southampton team were loading it down that left-hand side trying to stick it on his [Martinez] head,’ Souness told talkSPORT.

‘He’s vertically challenged and I was racking my mind to come up with anyone who’s played in the Premier League or indeed the [old] first division that size and been a success.’

Souness also took aim at Martinez after United’s 4-0 loss to Brentford at the start of the year

Despite Souness’ concerns, Martinez has helped stabilise United after a disastrous campaign for their defence last year. 

During the 2021-22 Premier League season, United conceded 57 goals which is the highest tally in the club’s history. In contrast, they’ve seen just six goals go against them in their last eight matches.

Martinez will have another opportunity to prove Souness, and anyone still questioning his abilities, wrong when United travel to Real Sociedad on Thursday.