Jamie Carragher has accused Gary Neville of 'getting carried away' after he admitted he is still unconvinced by Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez.
Martinez, in the eyes of some, is starting to prove his doubters wrong after a shaky start to life at Old Trafford.. He joined United from Ajax in a £55million deal in the summer.
Carragher issued a damning verdict on Martinez after he was left exposed in United's 4-0 away loss to Brentford last month, and said his move to the club 'can't work'. But 24-year-old’s return to form was brought up by Neville in his latest episode of The Overlap, co-hosted by Carragher, with the former Reds Devils full-back initially asking his Sky Sports partner if he had changed his mind on the Argentine.
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Neville said: “Have you changed your mind on Martinez, by the way?” Carragher responded by saying: “No. I think he's a good player. I wouldn't want a centre-back who was 5ft 9in in my team. I would not.”
The Liverpool great the continued, saying: “We'll see. We've had four games [of Martinez being in form]. You're getting carried away.
“If Odegaard scores the opening goal then you'll be saying he made a mistake. But for a defender to be 5ft 9in and play, never mind in the Premier League, at any level of football, he's got to be a good player. Because that is not normal.
“His passing is very good, he looks aggressive. He looks like a leader. He's not a bad player, but to play at that level of football at 5ft 9in - I wouldn't want to play alongside someone who was 5ft 9in as a centre back.”
Before Carragher concluded on his point by adding: “Think of the best centre-backs to ever play. Bobby Moore, wins the World Cup. Franco Baresi, I would say he's the best centre back to ever play, in my eyes.
“I didn't see Bobby Moore play but Baresi was lightning quick, amazing on the ball, he organised the whole defence and he was still 5ft 9in, 5ft 10in. So for Martinez to play at this level, he's obviously a good player. He has to be, because of his height. But at times, that will cost him.
“But if he is nine out of ten at everything else, it will compensate for being 5ft 9in. Because at times, if you are that height, you will get exposed as we saw in the first two games.
“I wasn't the biggest centre-back and I found it more difficult playing against a Kevin Davies, Bobby Zamora, Carlton Cole, rather than playing against a United or Chelsea or (Manchester) City. Because those games were more about reading the game.”
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