Pep Guardiola on Lisandro Martínez: “Top five center backs in the world”

By
Roy Nemer
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6

Pep Guardiola spoke about Lisandro Martínez, calling him a top five center back in the world.

Guardiola and Manchester City lost 2-1 in the FA Cup final against Manchester United in a match which saw Lisandro Martínez at his best. He was able to close down Erling Haaland and City’s attack while he was on the pitch.

After the FA Cup final, Pep Guardiola spoke to the media about Lisandro Martínez. Here is what he had to say:

“Lisandro Martínez is top five center back in the world.

“He made the difference on this game by playing passes through our defence”.

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6 Comments

  2. What is the reason Scaloni avoiding new defenders? It’s injustice to them. Senesi, Nehuen, Balerdi. At least two of them should be in squad.

  3. love me some Licha but I have to admit that his recent injury record has me sweating bullets and ManU are to blame for all of it considering the fact that they rushed his return, which lead to his current injury streak. I hope to dear God that this is just a phase.

  4. I don’t want to take anything away from Otamendi as he had a stellar worldcup , upuntil the 75th min in the final. I was surprised his aging body showed no signs of fatigue and his tendency to commit errors which forced him out of City had disappeared from his game. He looked like his prime from Valencia days.

    Pep is a master tactitian and the sight of a great passer, competent & mentally solid defender makes him drool. His statement is a sign for Scaloni to drop Otamendi to bench. All the chaos we suffered in the final was because of Otamendi’s tendency to commit atleast one head scratching mistake a game and in that match he made two of those! His first blunder was to go toe to toe with a young and fresh forward inside the box when he could easily clear it. That first mistake which led to the penalty caused havoc in the team and in that chaos he tried to slide and reach the ball in a failed attemp to clear it and without mentally strong Emi, France would have scored.

    Tata & Bauza never bothered to replace the aging players from 2014 and Sampaoli paid the price in 2018. Apparently Scaloni doesn’t want to disrespect his world cup winning team which is why he is sticking to players like Armani, Otamendi & Pezella ! But after this , some of the aging players have be bid farewell.

  5. with all due respect, and the liability we have at center backs ( Aerial Duels,and height), it will make sense if he is not ahead of Ota. Obviously, Ota too has his own weekness. Balerdi,Perez, and Senesi have a plus compared to Martinez and Ota.

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