FORMER Manchester United defender Paul Parker believes that Lisandro Martinez should be “furious” with his lack of game time during the World Cup.
The current Red Devils star was much the second fiddle to first-choice defenders Cristian Romero and Nicolas Otamendi as Argentina went on to lift the trophy in Qatar.
Martinez only started in two of the team’s seven games at the tournament, as well as appearing as a substitute three times.
Manager Lionel Scaloni opted for the former Manchester City star and Tottenham defender as his centre-back partnership, which led to Martinez having to fill in as left-back when he did play.
Parker has suggested that the 24-year-old did not “contribute to the team on the pitch” and that he will have had a “bad experience” at the tournament.
He told BeMyBet: “When I looked at him, I never got the feeling that he didn’t want to be there.
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“But, of course, he must have been furious that Nicolas Otamendi played instead of him, which is absolutely crazy.
“He will be disappointed without a shadow of a doubt. He won the final, but he didn’t play in the final and that is a weird feeling.
“It’s a different feeling to win a medal and put it around your neck when you didn’t really contribute to the team on the pitch.
“He will return with a medal and a bad experience.”
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Martinez is yet to return to Old Trafford following the celebrations back in Buenos Aires in Argentina alongside his team-mates.
After a tricky start to life in England following his summer transfer from Ajax, he has become a key player for Erik ten Hag.
And the Dutch manager has admitted that if he had not signed his former player in the summer, he would have joined Premier League rivals Arsenal.
He told Dutch outlet VI : “If I found it hard to take Martinez away from Ajax? I had such a great time there, the way we build a project.
“Out of nowhere, we brought Ajax back to the European top level. But Martinez himself wanted to leave.
“If we didn’t take him, he would have gone to Arsenal.
“At a certain point, Lisandro Martinez called me up and said, ‘coach, listen, I will leave Ajax no matter what. I can sign for Arsenal, but if you want me, I will go to Manchester United’.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
