Rio Ferdinand lashed out at Lisandro Martinez and his ability to play in the Premier League, urging Manchester United boss Eric ten Haag to use a rear sleeve to accommodate the diminutive Argentine.
Martinez, who joined from Ajax this summer for £56.7m, was sent off in the 45th minute after Iván Toni set a terrible time against Brentford at the weekend and was easily hit by Ben May on a shot from corner.
Ferdinand believes the defender’s short stature (he’s just 5ft 9in) makes him “cleverly” the most physical and imposing striker in the Premier League, being a flat winger and centre-back.
Speaking to Vibe Five’s YouTube show, the United legend said: I’m sure there are central midfielders and central forwards who know they are setting the tone: Mitrovic, Nunez, Harland, Wood and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. They’re all sitting there saying, ‘Oh my gosh, put me on the team, we definitely have a chance.’
“Yesterday I was talking to Alan Shearer about the text and talking about it. He licked his lip when the ball hit the far post. Not to mention the 5’9″ center, the 6’4” half. The half was waiting in front of him, so he licked his lips.
Imagine what these guys are thinking when a 5-foot-9 guy is standing there. You don’t even have to jump. Pop! Put the ball into the net.
“Respectfully, have you ever seen Ben May collect balls by taunting a dime into an opponent’s box?” Not much in his career. He doesn’t establish himself as one of them. But he does in the second game of the season. [against Martinez].
For all the good things he has, how he handles the ball, his confidence with the ball, his tenacity, etc. [his lack of height] The Premier League is an important factor.
“In the Dutch and Spanish leagues, Javier Mascherano was great for Barcelona because he had the ball 80% of the time.
In football in Spain or in the Champions League there are not many aerial battles. While in the Premier League, he has different proposals for any league in the world.
You have a U-15 team and you go to the scouts for the pro teams and say, ‘Look, there’s a center midfielder here. Does the scout say ‘5’9′? There is no chance, friend. He’s not big enough.”
Ferdinand believes that Martinez’s height will be less of an issue if Ten Hag changes the formation to a back three.
He added:
‘[Ten Hag] I can’t get the ball out of the net, so I have to be third. We often play behind third when we don’t have enough defenders to defend the goal, but we have to.
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Source: Metro
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