Liverpool FC defender Virgil van Dijk agrees with Roy Keane over Manchester United signing Lisandro Martinez as they shut down undue criticism towards the Argentina international. Martinez, 24, followed Erik ten Hag to United from Ajax this summer and has been a stand-out performer this season.
Despite his diminutive stature, Martinez packs a real punch in his performances and United have adjusted superbly to the skillset he does offer the team. Indeed, the centre-back has struck up an impressive partnership with Raphael Varane and continues to lead the fight in his injury absence.
Without allowing him to settle, some observers slammed Martinez during his early days at Old Trafford and they've been made to eat their words. However, as far as Van Dijk and Keane are concerned, Martinez has key attributes to make up for his size - while the former does not even see it as an issue in the first instance.
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Van Dijk was pressed on Martinez during an appearance on The Overlap in partnership with Sky Bet .
He said: "People talking about Lisandro Martinez and his height are talking absolute rubbish. It can help as a centre-back if you're a bit taller, but what he's done since coming to the Premier League has been good and he has been a good signing for Manchester United.
"He's good on the ball, he's very passionate. I can only speak positively about him.
"I have respect for what he's achieved so far and hope he does well, but that he doesn't get successful there with winning trophies! In England, everyone loves criticising players about everything but, that's fine, because you can't change it.
"Lisandro has shown many good performances already. He shouldn't think about outside noise around him."
Speaking about Martinez on Sky Sports last month, Keane said: "We can focus on what players can't do, but if you focus on what they're good at... He's an experienced player, he's new to the league and, after having one bad game, everyone's writing him off.
"The most important thing was the manager knew him, he knew his qualities, he knew he could play well at United and knew he could deal with those expectations. I like the look of him.
"He will be found out in certain games because of his height, but he's tenacious and he reads the game well. Just as important for United, he looks like he's got plenty of fight and personality, which is huge."
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