I doubt it. One season of CL won't change anything as there is no guarantee for yearly CL participation for Arsenal.
Lisandro Martinez | Signs for United
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I think it's the same for United and Spurs though. I think only Chelsea, City and Liverpool have had regular CL participation over the last 6-7 years.
It is always playing time, coach/tactics, salary, location of the club that are important for players. CL participation is just icing on the cake in my opinion.
Well it surely is better than nothing, also the atmosphere would be wholly different had you scraped by and the season would have been considered a great success.
I think most players pick United tbh
There’s levels to this football shit and we are royalty
Same bids, same wages, no TenHag, can you say for sure he choose United ? It will depend how each manager pitched him his future role in the team and what he wants.
Stop being so insecure
Man Utd has bigger reputation and bigger resources. Players pick the club that work best for them. There are so many players out there in the market to choose from anyway.
You were more Queen Mother than Queen B last year though.
Yep, you'll be alright.
I'd also include challenging for major honours.
I think most players know that United and Arsenal are in a similar place right now. So all the other options come into account.
If City/Liverpool both came in for Lisandro we wouldn't even be considered.
Players don’t go off last year though alone..
Liverpool and United are the royals of the prem. Barca and Real Spain, Dortmund and Bayern Germany etc
kantes a centreback?
But let me tell you why you chose kante as a comparison.
Because you can't think of a single midget centreback that actually was half decent in the prem.
My guess is they'll play a more normal back 4. Blind couldn't be the last man the way Lisandro.
Wijndal and Blind on the left side, then Timber either at RB with Schuurs central or Timber central and Rensch on the right. They should probably just buy more conventional CB with some pace and size.
Depends. At this stage of his career regular playing time is probably very important to him for his development. If Man Utd can promise starting spot and City/Liverpool can't, he will pick Man Utd. Ten Hag is a coach he worked with before so it is less risky for him as well.
His passing looks even more convincing when he is doing it with his left foot. I don't think we should be looking for a 'left-footed' defender, we should be looking for a the best defender we could get.
Blins literally did that two years ago, next to de Ligt and Wijndal/Timber offer even more protection in terms of pace. As does Alvarez. He'd be fine as LCB for Ajax.
He's literally a playmaker center back
For me it's not right to be focusing on his height. Is a 5ft 10 centre back going to lose a handful more headers than a 6ft 3? Yes probably.
What we should be looking for in order to compete with the very best is to be able to control possession, and therefore football matches, and Martinez will certainly help us to do that. The benefits far outweigh the downsides
Same bids, same wages, no TenHag, can you say for sure he choose United ? It will depend how each manager pitched him his future role in the team and what he wants.
Stop being so insecure
I agree with the idea that it comes down to his role in the team, importance etc. With all things being equal (which is purely hypothetical), wages, price, role, possibility of trophies etc., United have a clear differentiator in terms of their global appeal, size of fan base, historical significance etc. Playing for United gives a player a boost to their profile, which affects marketing deals etc., that few other clubs can match. Just your Reals, Barcas, Bayerns etc. That’s something that takes a generation to catch up on. But I agree that United and Arsenal are in similar places in terms of their sporting projects right now. I can easily see a player picking Arsenal over United if they are more certain of their role in the team moving forwards.
Arsenal tend to back off targets when United are involved, only City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the EPL go head to head with united over transfers.
Cb with the possible exception of big games like City or Chelsea where an extra defensive dm might help.
Any other takers?
Have to admit, I just don't think we're after him primarily as a CB!
Perfect response. So many people mocking others for doubting a 5'8 CB, when they themselves can't think of a single world class CB playing in a top team within the past 5 years. The only ones they can think of are either not CBs or they're CBs from the preceding century.
"Height for CBs isn't a big deal."
Well go on lads, if that's the case give us some examples of the contrary from this decade.
I highly doubt he's coming to play as a midfielder too because De Jong is going to reprise his role as the deepest lying midfielder like he was in Ajax, and Lisandro simply does not have the skill set to play as a box to box centre midfielder. There's also the added bonus that the person requesting him has played him as a CB for more than 2 seasons in a row. People here thinking he's coming as a midfielder are in denial about us shelling 50m euros on a dwarven centreback.
Well as of now ten Hag is king so I have no doubt we'll end up with him, hope to God it fecking works and he's a success.
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So you believe it'd work? It's my first line of thinking in his recruitment with whatever else he offers coming after that in the manager's mind. Crazy talk?
Yes, only tricky part is that they'd both prefer to play on the left side of a double pivot but I think it should work.
Martinez is really really good for the type of football ETH wants to play.
Yes but no matter where you put him CB or DM, he can both create and work in destruction.
He was chosen Ajax player of the year mainly because he was bit everywhere on the pitch. Bagged 700 minutes of CL experience last season, also one of the best players in Europe's top five leagues and European competition for assists, shot-creating actions, passes attempted, progressive passes and tackles per 90.
His quoted fee is not that super high imo, especially if Timber's change of club is on hold.
Can he use his right foot or is he exclusively a lefty
From what I’ve seen, bit like Shaw… can use it, but doesn’t much
He can but isnt two-footed.
Obviously you’ve seen lots of him, but why does he prefer the left? Right footed?
So not as bad as Matic
I wouldn't say I have no concerns about Martinez' height. I do think it's an important asset for a cb but there have definitely been examples of great cbs who weren't very tall. I don't really see why the examples need to be in the last 5 years. What difference does that really make? Mascherano, Cannavaro, Puyol, Baresi, Koeman and Beckenbauer all played to a very high level despite being very short (for a cb). Mascherano was even shorter than Martinez.
In terms of more recent examples it's obviously more difficult because shorter players who start at cb in their youth are often moved to dm or full back because of their height, but Alaba isn't particularly tall and Kimmich has played quite a few games at cb despite being just 5'9. Azpilicueta has played to a high level at cb many times over the last 5 years. Probably the top young cb prospect in world football right now, Jules Kounde is also quite short yet has been one of the best defenders in La Liga for 2 years in a row.
It would be wrong to suggest height doesn't mean anything for a cb, but I also don't think it's a guarantee that a top, intelligent defender can't perform the role to a high level despite this.
City dominated like no other team with Fernandinho as a CB. Pep used Mascherano there as well in the greatest club side of all time
Who was the last non physical, non tall centre back who was brilliant in the premier league though?
I know we've just seen the tallest and supposed best header in the league have a miserable season for us, so it's not "everything", but we've also spent 2 years whinging about how weak and poor in the air Lindelof is, and he's 6ft 2 apparently!
Yes when you have 1b of talent out there and have 95% of the ball every game I dare say it works.
Yes, @DWelbz19 made the same point about their starting positions, but I think that would be ironed out really quickly myself.
I am very happy about this guy being linked to us in conjunction with De Jong; our central block suddenly takes a leap and the left side is fortified in numerous ways: inside the channel, outside for cover and distribution from deep goes through the roof contrasted to what we've become accustomed to. Even Maguire has someone who will cover if he gets caught out upfield.
Really hope this goes through, personally.
What you should ask is how many highly regarded below 6ft cbs were signed by PL teams and given the chance to see if they'd sink or swim? Azpilicueta, Ake and Fernandinho have all performed pretty solidly at cb at various periods, but who else can you even point to that played cb in PL and was actually bad? There are so many examples of terrible cbs above 6ft from the history of the PL but we don't say these examples mean a cb should be under 6ft. The stigma/belief that most PL managers (and managers in general) have around the importance of a cb being tall means that most aren't going to take the risk of signing a short cb in the first place. How do you win the raffle without buying a ticket?
We seem quite good in gazumping small clubs. Who is next? West ham? Southampton? Liverpool?
I know left footed defenders prefer LCB but I always felt left footed CMs preferred RCM for some reason. Allows for better passing angles and such. Does he play on the left both as a CB and as a CM?
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