“I’m called the Butcher of Amsterdam. We Argentines do everything with passion, and when I take the field I fight for every ball. If I have to step over dead bodies, I do.”
This is how the defender Lisandro Martínez, 24, new signing for Manchester United, introduced himself in a text published in the British tabloid Mirror.
In football, butcher is synonymous with a player, usually with defensive functions, who arrives hard, who does not soften, who goes to each move with the intention of “drawing blood” from the opponent. Butcher.
As a rule, he is a violent athlete, who is feared by rivals due to his exaggerated truculence.
Martínez, who in his speech seems to be proud of his nickname, continues: “I want to win every dispute because I know I’m fighting for food for my family and friends. That’s the feeling I have, and that every Argentine has. of motivation that I can’t explain”.
Race is definitely not lacking for the player who was elected the best of the Ajax squad in the 2021/22 season, the current Dutch champions and whose headquarters are in the country’s capital, Amsterdam.
“I inherited my mother’s talent. In addition to her job, which was very hard work, she’s also a football player. She still plays, and she’s a fantastic midfielder.”
His mother, Silvia, was a manual worker in the road construction industry, tasked with paving roads in the family’s hometown of Gualeguay.
At 1.75 m, Martínez is considered short for a defender. At Manchester United, he will rival England’s Harry Maguire (1.94 m), Frenchman Raphael Varane (1.91 m), Sweden’s Victor Lindelof and Ivorian Eric Bailly (both 1.87 m).
The Argentine, however, is not worried about his stature. He says he has as an idol the former Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro, captain of Italy who won the 2006 World Cup in Germany, who measured 1.76 m.
“Although not tall, he [Cannavaro] he fought for every ball as if it were the winning bid in the game. I loved that style, and I’m just like it.” That is, lacking height, bravery.
Even with Cannavaro as an inspiration, “short” stature could prove to be a limiting factor for Martínez, especially given the renown of Maguire and Varane, except for two reasons.
The first is the recent situation of competition in the English team.
Man United’s defense has come under frequent criticism due to poor reliability. He conceded 57 goals in 38 matches in the 21/22 Premier League (average 1.5 per game), and could have been worse if Spanish goalkeeper De Gea hadn’t put on great performances.
The fragile defense contributes to the club, one of the richest, most powerful and successful in the world, failing to resume the path of glories recorded in the era of coach Alex Ferguson (1986-2013).
A good header, Maguire, 29, the most expensive defender in history (€87 million), is slower every day and is often poorly positioned. He is, to make matters worse, thick, he has very little skill, which limits him in the exit of the game.
Lindelof, 28, is now a Maguire just a little less bad, inspiring, like his companion, very little confidence.
Varane, 29, world champion with France in the Russian Cup-2018, has seen better days, at the time of Real Madrid. He’s had a season marred by injuries, and injuries are a must for African Bailly, 28, who might as well be called “Mr. Infirmary.”
The second reason favoring Martínez is called Erik ten Hag. The Dutch coach has just taken over at Man United, and he was the one who referred the Argentine, his player at Ajax, to the Red Devils.
Ten Hag should, in the best-case scenario, line up Martínez alongside Varane, with Maguire, who had been captaining the team, being relegated to the reserve, along with Bailly and Lindelof.
The Argentinian, who cost Man United close to €57 million, plays for his country and is likely to be at the World Cup in Qatar in November and December.
He is currently playing for a spot in Lionel Scaloni’s squad with Nicolás Otamendi (1.83 m, 34 years old), Germán Pezzella (1.87 m, 31 years old) and Cristian Romero (1.88 m, 24 years old). Two of the four must be the starters.
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