Manchester United always seem to fluctuate between “extreme crisis” and “winning it all” mode and the former is the theme right now after another loss.
Nottingham Forest exposed the soft underbelly of a Man Utd squad that can be put under pressure and is extremely prone to wilting when faced with adversity.
Individual errors crept up in the game of generally dependable individuals and in the grand scheme of things, this game will perhaps have Ruben Amorim learn more about his team than a convincing win.
Andre Onana led the unfortunate way in terms of individual errors but it is another player’s performance that would worry Amorim the most.
Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United looks dejected during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Old ...
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
Lisandro Martinez’s uncharacteristic game vs Forest
Generally, it has been a theme at United that even when players are wilting under pressure and making mistakes, Lisandro Martinez remains calm.
He’s a headstrong individual who brings as much to the side with his intangibles like leadership as he does with his skills on the ball.
The Forest game was not a nice endorsement of those skills as Martinez started the game getting outmuscled for a header and never recovered.
What followed was one error after another as he looked determined to make it so that Onana wasn’t the only one getting criticised after the game!
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He had 95 touches of the ball, very good by any standard, but it’s only good statistically as United bossed possession at 72%, most of it was sterile.
Martinez’s raking passes from defence were absent and it was clear that his confidence had been shot. The problems were compounded for Forest’s third where a meek Wood header into the far post was allowed to roll into the goal with Martinez standing on the line.
The Argentine never recovered and by the full-time whistle, had firmly established himself as the second-worst performer on the pitch after Onana.
Martinez is too important under Ruben Amorim to fail
Erik ten Hag’s signings have been taken to the cleaners for being too influenced by the manager but Lisandro Martinez stands as an undisputed success story.
His absence is noticeable in the worst possible way and his presence makes a difference in the best possible way.
The Forest game needs to be a blip where a perfect storm of bad events cratered his confidence because he’s too important in the new system to fail.
Due to Luke Shaw’s injuries and Jonny Evans’ age, he remains the only left-footed centre-back option to play on that side of a back three.
Noussair Mazraoui played well vs Forest too and he is a Swiss army knife but he is being sacrificed when he can be even more of a difference-maker as a wing-back or on the right.
What Martinez brings to the team as the left-sided centre-back can’t be replicated by anyone else in the team so the hope will be that this game doesn’t affect his confidence in the long run.
A certain Manchester rival is waiting on the other side of the Europa League clash in midweek.
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