Man Utd played with 10-men after Casemiro was sent off in their goaless draw against Southampton at the weekend.
If dropping points wasn’t bad enough, Manchester United now need to play their next four domestic matches without the help of arguably their most important player.
Casemiro’s reckless red card against Southampton was the headline of their weekend draw and left supporters with as much dread as the two dropped points.
It was the type of game that United would likely have lost in years gone by, and there is a crumb of comfort to take from the fact they managed to hold on and almost win it themselves.
United’s mentality has changed enough though that it was still viewed as two points dropped regardless of the circumstances, and that is partly due to the players signed last summer.
Even without star signing Casemiro available for well over an hour, the backbone of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez held firm, proving to be solid foundations from which they almost forged an unlikely three points.
On another day, Southampton might well have taken full advantage of the extra man and gone on to score a winning goal, but to do so, they would have had to find a way past the excellent Martinez.
The Argentine shone in central defence with a resilient performance, winning all of his aerial duels, all but one of his ground duels, and making two interceptions.
His performance was even more impressive when you consider he was given a yellow card after only 10 minutes and still managed to play with enough calm and composure to avoid getting drawn into any similar risky situations.
One moment in particular stood out in the second-half when he saved Bruno Fernandes’ blushes after a poor pass that gifted possession to Che Adams.
The Southampton forward slid a through ball in behind the United defence to unleash Kamaldeen Sulemana on goal. He looked certain to gain possession on the edge of the box, before Martinez raced back and effortlessly took control of the ball, not only ending the attack but calmly taking it in his stride and giving his side the opportunity to form their own attack.
Most other defenders would have either slid in to try and win the ball or thumped it clear without a moment of hesitation, it spoke volumes that the Argentine centre-back never appeared to consider either of those options.
This was a moment that reminded us of why Martinez is so priceless to the United side, but also indicated why he might be the perfect solution to their upcoming midfield dilemma.
Martinez made 22 appearances for Ajax as a holding midfielder, and with Casemiro set to serve a four-match domestic suspension, he has given the latest reason why he is worth considering as a temporary fix.
The 25-year-old finished the match against Southampton with a passing accuracy of 88%, a dribbling accuracy of 100%, and nine ball recoveries.
The stats obviously need to be taken with a pinch of salt given he was playing in defence against the joint-worst attacking side in the division, but he certainly has a lot of transferable skills to make the position switch work.
Martinez’s raw defensive attributes coupled with his composure on the ball make a compelling case for him to be trialed as Casemiro’s replacement in the coming weeks, particularly given there is no other specialist for that role in the first-team squad.
United are already without the injured Marcel Sabitzer, Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek, while they at least have options in the heart of the defence to cope without Martinez for a little while.
If he were to be repurposed into the deeper midfield role, Ten Hag could readjust in defence by using Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire, or even by moving Luke Shaw into centre-back and utilising Tyrell Malacia on the left.
Given that there will need to be some reconfiguration of their line-up in the next four domestic matches, there is certainly logic in experimenting with Martinez in midfield rather than the other options at their disposal.
United have lost arguably their most important player; it could be up to another to help fill that void.
SOURCE: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
