Manchester United legend Roy Keane was working on the Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United game for Sky Sports and he singled out Lisandro Martinez for praise as the Argentine won the Player of the Match award.
Martinez put in a strong performance as he helped United beat Forest 3-0 at the City Ground in the first leg of their Carabao Cup clash and it fair to say that Keane was impressed with the defender’s showing, as well as his “character and desire”.
“He’s got pride in his defending,” the former United captain began. “You’ve seen his character and his desire. He wants to defend” [via Daily Mail].
🔊 A post-match message from our no.6 — take it away, @LisandrMartinez!@TeamViewer ↔️ #BringingYouCloser#MUFC || #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/S4WkwtQYbn
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 25, 2023
Martinez was excellent as he dominant in the air and we could see that Forest tried to target him, however, he stood strong, and he was also strong in his tackling, which led Keane to say that Martinez is the type of player that “you would want in the trenches with”, and that is indeed high praise from a Man United icon, who was also known for his desire to put in a tackle.
“He’s the kind of person you want to be in the trenches with. From a defender’s point of view they’ll be delighted with a clean sheet” [via Daily Mail].
1/2 of the job done 👏🏼 …bring on the second leg! 👹🔴 #mufc #carabaocup #teamwork pic.twitter.com/8A6Q9nxDGi
— Lisandro Martinez (@LisandrMartinez) January 25, 2023
Victor Lindelof had a few rusty moments in the first half, but Martinez was there to help out the Swede as he made a brave headed clearance to prevent Forest from scoring, which is what Keane is referring to and it is great to see that Martinez is helping others around him as well as maintaining his own high performance levels. Lindelof played well in the second half, and Martinez said that the pair’s work on the training ground together has helped.
“In the training with each other I think we are doing a really good job. And that is most important, when we need a player [to come into the team], you need to be there, you have to be ready. And Victor did very well” [via Man Utd].
United are next in action against Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday night at Old Trafford and it would be sensible to give Martinez a rest because Erik ten Hag’s side have a busy schedule coming up over the next few weeks, which sees United play almost every three or four days.