Man Utd left ruing Lisandro Martinez decision as Erik ten Hag's gamble backfires

30 September 2023 , 09:02

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Man Utd left ruing Lisandro Martinez decision as Erik ten Hag's gamble backfires

Erik ten Hag admits Lisandro Martinez played when he "was not 100% fit" which contributed to his latest injury.

The Argentine has dealt Manchester United a major blow with the defender set to be sidelined for months due to a recurrence of the foot injury which cut short last season. Martinez was hauled off in the defeat at Arsenal several weeks ago as a precaution.

He then missed Argentina's games in the last international break but featured for United in their Premier League game against Brighton and the Champions League trip to Bayern Munich recently. They lost both games and their problems have deepened with Martinez now sidelined after attempting to play when he wasn't fully fit.

Ten Hag said: "We did a proper diagnosis, in Argentina as well, but now it came out that there was a problem. That's very sad, for him and the team, because he was not 100 percent fit."

Martinez is part of United's first choice centre-half pairing alongside Raphael Varane. Ten Hag has, largely, picked him when fit but there has been a drop off this term, underlined by the club's defensive record. The Dutchman is adamant Martinez's injury affected his form with the team keeping successive clean sheets without him.

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He added: "I think it was a big difference, the Licha Martinez in the last games and the Licha Martinez we have seen in the first season here. He will add to the team, a really strong contributor to our levels and if already one player drops a level, the team performance will be lower."

In his absence it was Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof who teamed up in the win over Burnley last weekend with Varane coming off the bench as he returned from an injury layoff.

Lisandro Martinez played when he wasn't fully fit and has paid the price (Getty Images)

Ten Hag has bemoaned the state of the football calendar, which has seen clubs up and down the Premier League rack up injuries. He is adamant that something needs to give with players being hit with huge demands and a lack of rest time during the off-season.

"We had a World Cup in the middle of the season; we had a longer season; we had to play a longer season as well, with FA Cup, then Nations League games. A shorter break," said the United boss. "Every time the schedule is expanding, the load on the players is too much. It's such a great overload.

"Many colleagues of mine have pointed to that and I have pointed to that as well. But it keeps going. We keep expanding the schedule. Players can't deal any more with this overload and that's what you see in this squad at the moment."

Samuel Meade