[Bobski]

Had very little to do defensively, nearly every Rayo attack came down their left and pretty much every cross did not beat the first man.

Pure class on the ball though, there was a long ball down the left early on, he brought it down with a perfect touch and moved the ball quickly to Varane allowing an immediate attack. Have not seen that consistently at Utd since Rio and Blind.

 

[Chief123]

Not specifically.. Would call him slow for sure, but speeds isnt something that sets him apart..

I dont really recall that, nor would it matter.. Ive watched basically every second of him at Ajax and like I said.. He is definetely not slow, but calling him very quick is massively exaggerated..

 

[Tony247]

I thought his movement looked strange for their goal.

Me too. Telles fecked up but had Martinez taken better position the goal could have been avoided.

But i think we should give benefit of doubt to him. He has not played much with this lot. Will take time to develop understanding.

 

[Borys]

He'll turn out to be our first choice DM by the end of October.

 

[Chief123]

I'd give him 4th most blame for the goal after Telles letting the lef footer dribble inside onto his left foot and get a shot away in space, Varane who's RCB side is where the shot went and the goalkeeper who should have taken it comfortably.

Blimey, I’ve never seen a such a comprehensive list of players who are fault for a goal. 4th on the list. I’m intrigued to know who’s 11th!

 

[Trex]

Calm in possession and aggressive when defending.

 

[Yagami]

He'll turn out to be our first choice DM by the end of October.

Erik has already said he doesn't like Martinez in midfield. He's a cb.

 

[Nick7]

He'll turn out to be our first choice DM by the end of October.

He’s not a midfielder.

 

[sullydnl]

I swear people are just trolling with the DM thing at this point. It's nearly as bad as the height jokes.

 

[Ekeke]

Blimey, I’ve never seen a such a comprehensive list of players who are fault for a goal. 4th on the list. I’m intrigued to know who’s 11th!

He may even be 5th after Laird not getting to the rebound before the winger

 

[BrilliantOrange]

Slow?? I saw him take on Benfica when he was running back to the goal a number of times and he ate up ground quite well. Maguire is slow. Martinez is not rapid but he was quite nippy I thought.

My bad.. Meant to type 'wouldn't call him slow'

 

[Blood Mage]

I swear people are just trolling with the DM thing at this point. It's nearly as bad as the height jokes.

That's the Caf for you, there are still posters here who'd like to see Lindelof in midfield.

 

[Teja]

I thought his movement looked strange for their goal.

Yeah, I dunno his positioning just looked wrong. Don't know if it would've made any difference even if he was a few yards towards Telles but still.

Excellent on the ball. Its baffling why so many of our attacks started with Varane who was treating the ball like a hot potato.

Loved the aggression too.

Not sure what that was all about either. Don't think we went left from the GK even once.

Was it because Garner was the deeper of the two CMs and he played RCM?

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

Excellent on the ball. Its baffling why so many of our attacks started with Varane who was treating the ball like a hot potato.

Loved the aggression too.

I saw that, were they zonally marking Martinez to force Heaton to go to his right side and allowing Varane to get the ball then press us on that side?

 

[Isotope]

Very pleased with his ‘debut’. Showing some skill and calm in passing. Very decent defending also.

 

[MadDogg]

We'll let The Caf decide once they have gotten to know him

That can be dangerous. Even after watching him play for us for nine years, one of the criticisms that some would make of Smalling was that he was slow despite him actually being one of the fastest players in our squad. Some people just see what they want to see if they don't like a player.

 

[Newtonius]

Exactly what we expected Lindelof to be isn't he, just so calm and composed can't wait to see him in the high line against teams that park the bus, and on that note its crazy Varane was the one bringing it out. If that's Maguire in the league i will go nutso.

 

[BrilliantOrange]

That can be dangerous. Even after watching him play for us for nine years, one of the criticisms that some would make of Smalling was that he was slow despite him actually being one of the fastest players in our squad. Some people just see what they want to see if they don't like a player.

No one is strange to confirmation bias to some extent..

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

I was really impressed. Very good on the ball and I loved his aggression. I’m not sure if he will start the first game though considering he only managed 60 mins today.

 

[RPT_Reddevil]

Good aggressive performance. What impressed me the most was his crisp passing and how comfortable he looked out there.

 

[red_de_pologne]

I was really impressed. Very good on the ball and I loved his aggression. I’m not sure if he will start the first game though considering he only managed 60 mins today.

Yeah it’ll be Maguire Varane I think

 

[SWE-Chucky]

For it to be his first game with a game with 0 structure or even any mening more then getting some minutes in their legs, he was ok, but I am still convinced that we should use him as a CDM next to/behind FDJ and Bruno/Eriksen in a 4-3-3 and get Antony to play the RW position and Sancho LW.

In a dreamworld we would also buy Pau Torres to play next to Varane and sell Maguire to Newcastle for 50m (yes i believe they would pay that) and for that money we get Pau Torres.

........................DDG

--------------Varane----Torres

Dalot--------------------------------------Malacia
.................Martinez
------------------------------------ FDJ
........................Bruno

--------Antony----------------Sancho
.......................Martial


Something like that if Ronaldo leaves.

 

[Thoms]

He is NOT A CDM. EtH won’t use him as one.

 

[avgp_1]

Great debut. Looked composed on ball, one touch passing under pressure. An aggressive CB we needed to play on the front foot and press higher to just snatch the ball from the attackers

 

[Trex]

@golden_blunder can anyone get a thread ban for suggesting he be used as a defensive midfielder?

 

[hellhunter]

@golden_blunder can anyone get a thread ban for suggesting he be used as a center back?

Might want to check that again

 

[Van Piorsing]

@golden_blunder can anyone get a thread ban for suggesting he be used as a center back?

 

[Trex]

Might want to check that again

Yeah right

 

[DJ_21]

Blimey, I’ve never seen a such a comprehensive list of players who are fault for a goal. 4th on the list. I’m intrigued to know who’s 11th!

The guy in row z for chanting so loud.

 

[DJ_21]

For it to be his first game with a game with 0 structure or even any mening more then getting some minutes in their legs, he was ok, but I am still convinced that we should use him as a CDM next to/behind FDJ and Bruno/Eriksen in a 4-3-3 and get Antony to play the RW position and Sancho LW.

In a dreamworld we would also buy Pau Torres to play next to Varane and sell Maguire to Newcastle for 50m (yes i believe they would pay that) and for that money we get Pau Torres.

........................DDG

--------------Varane----Torres

Dalot--------------------------------------Malacia
.................Martinez
------------------------------------ FDJ
........................Bruno

--------Antony----------------Sancho
.......................Martial


Something like that if Ronaldo leaves.

That to me looks like the most balanced team we could put out. However I’m not convinced that ten Hag will use martinez as a DM. Think that role belongs to Fred unless we sign de Jong. Think he’s been trialing Fred during pre season and he’s played it quite well to be honest.

 

[sullydnl]

I was really impressed. Very good on the ball and I loved his aggression. I’m not sure if he will start the first game though considering he only managed 60 mins today.

Hopefully he does as I'd like him to be properly up and running by the time we play Liverpool in GW3.

 

[Red the Bear]

So far I've been satisfied with the performances of all of our purchases him included, he could become a real trend setter.

 

[Newtonius]

So far I've been satisfied with the performances of all of our purchases him included, he could become a real trend setter.

Same yeah especially Malacia trying not to get carried away though AWB and Trent comparisons are still fresh in the mind, seems like we have a lot of morale problems at this club new signings always join raring to go but it just all goes wrong.

 

[Red the Bear]

Same yeah especially Malacia trying not to get carried away though AWB and Trent comparisons are still fresh in the mind, seems like we have a lot of morale problems at this club new signings always join raring to go but it just all goes wrong.

Yeah we always seem to find ourselves in false dawns, hopefully with Eric we get the real thing this time around.

 

[horsechoker]

I think he played a few times for Defensa y Justicia as a CDM but seldom for Ajax.

He's not a CDM by trade, maybe an emergency one. ETH used him as a CB and he'll continue there

 

[Chief123]

You guys who keep shoe horning Martinez into a CDM position are very likely going to be disappointed. Don’t be surprised to see him not play a single game in that position. He’s made his name as a CB.

 

[Red the Bear]

I think he played a few times for Defensa y Justicia as a CDM but seldom for Ajax.

He's not a CDM by trade, maybe an emergency one. ETH used him as a CB and he'll continue there

Apparently he did play there semi regularly last season for ajax but one disastrous performance changed Eric's mind.

 

[Kassadin]

Slotted in with very little fuss and showed great composure on the ball. Showed glimpses of his aggression with a tasty tackle out wide.

Tbh I would've liked to seen him on the ball a lot more rather than Varane being involved so much in the build up play. It is yet to be seen how Martinez will cope with the physicality of the league. If he can avoid being bullied by bigger opponents, he has all the ingredients to be a great ball playing center back.

 

[El Jefe]

Heaton refused to pass to him all game. Weird.

Heaton couldn't see anything on his left.

Not sure what that was all about either. Don't think we went left from the GK even once.

I saw that, were they zonally marking Martinez to force Heaton to go to his right side and allowing Varane to get the ball then press us on that side?

Good to see it wasn't just me that noticed that. Heaton was a big factor in why our passing out from the back was so bad.

It did seem like Rayo put more pressure on Martinez from goal kicks but he was ice cold in possession that I think he'd play his way out of it. Heaton either didn't have the confidence or ability to play it to him.

 

[McTerminator]

Good to see it wasn't just me that noticed that. Heaton was a big factor in why our passing out from the back was so bad.

It did seem like Rayo put more pressure on Martinez from goal kicks but he was ice cold in possession that I think he'd play his way out of it. Heaton either didn't have the confidence or ability to play it to him.

I was there today and Falcao was very high between the CBs and always towards Martinez’s side. He maybe could have showed for it more but the whole team was at fault.

A few times Garner and Eriksen came deep into the gap left but neither even looked to turn they just played it back to Heaton which hurt us.

That said I thought Martinez was fantastic, I doubt it came through on tv, but the speed at which he gets back into position is excellent, his all around game was solid and I already saw him barking orders to Varane telling him where to be and Varane
listened!

very excited by this guy.