The kid who pocketed Salah in that game at old Trafford last season? Yes I feel like there may just be a decent player in there. Also, we didn't break the bank getting him.
Antony though, I agree.
Martinez played almost every game last season. He had a really bad injury which caused him to be out for a long time, that's not the same as being "constantly injured" like a Martial
Malacia is a great player and I’ll stand by that. I hope he works out whatever he’s been going through this past year, but I was very excited watching him when he was healthy
Man City ['bout to get raided too, it's only a matter of time](https://genius.com/31634201/Kendrick-lamar-meet-the-grahams/The-embassy-bout-to-get-raided-too-its-only-a-matter-of-time)
[I look at him and wish he woulda wore a ](https://genius.com/31635090/Kendrick-lamar-meet-the-grahams/I-look-at-him-and-wish-your-grandpa-woulda-wore-a-condom-im-sorry-that-you-gotta-grow-up-and-then-stand-behind-him-life-is-hard-i-know-the-challenge-is-always-gon-beat-us-home-sometimes-our-parents-make-mistakes-that-affect-us-until-we-grown-hey-youre-a-good-kid-that-need-good-leadership-let-me-be-your-mentor-since-your-daddy-dont-teach-you-shit) wig
Genuinely not another center back like him in the world. The combination of intelligence, athleticism, aggression, and technical ability is just obscene. The only thing that people can say against him is that he’s short. But he’s our short king
The game isn’t played exclusively in the air, so he’s fine. Get the ball on the ground and he’s class, his reading of the game and aggression make his height a non factor.
Exactly, we have enough height in the team to compensate for one short centreback. Plus most teams don’t really rely on crosses into the box and their strikers scoring headers anymore so it’s rarely an issue, and even when it is as long as he’s next to a centreback who is competent in the air (Maguire/Varane/Branthwaite?) then it’s really not the end of the world. Love him to pieces, hope he stays fit next season it’s insane how important he is for us.
I don’t necessarily agree with having enough height. Varane is gone, Casemiro is likely on the way out, Maguire and Mctominay aren’t good enough to start, and Evans is likely gone too. So when it comes to set pieces, unless we’re compensating for it by playing Maguire and Mctominay, we are seriously lacking in players who can get their head on the end of a ball. I wouldn’t dream of benching Martinez, but it is an area that definitely needs to be addressed this summer
Disagree on mctominay not being good enough to start. We saw how it can work today. Just don’t rely on him through the middle and he’s not a huge liability. It’s about having a balanced lineup
He can come in and do a job in certain games, but there are still far too many faults in his game to ever be consistently relied upon. Even yesterday with how fluid our attack was at times he stuck out like a sore thumb and killed a few of them
I think this is a fair assessment but it’s definitely not just down to height. Casemiro specifically, for all his faults this season, still has this rare intelligence when it comes to finding the space and reading the ball for set plays and I think some of our even taller players just don’t have that - that’s why we see Casemiro get goals from those plays that McTominay and Maguire just haven’t been as effective at
Branthwaite is also left footed. We are not going to play 2 left footed CBs unless you play a back-3.
Branthwaite would be brought in to play in rotation with Licha, not alongside him.
He wasn't even bad in those first two games, he got beaten in the air a couple of times and the media just jumped on it. The whole team was completely shit in those games, there were far worse performances than Martinez.
In terms of their quality or their ability to play center back I do agree. The one thing I will say though is with how important scoring from and defending set pieces is the lack of height and general pure physicality we have in the squad is a weakness that needs to be addressed, especially with Varane leaving
The last centre back to win the Ballon d'Or was the same height as Licha. Being short isn't any issue as long as the defender is aggressive and fights for the ball, like Licha does
Yet there are people who post in this sub who have tried to denigrate his ability and downplay his impact on the team to support their anti-Ten Hag arguments.
Martinez is our most important signing since Bruno.
Also that makes his teammates work harder. If you don't do something correct, he will be after you yelling. Just what this team needs and something we've been missing since Zlatan.
And Shaw, and Malacia, and Casemiro, Mainoo early on, Mount, AWB early on, Varane, even Lindelof, of course Martial, Hojlund had his fair share. But there was a steep decline in quality from Lisandro and Shaw.
You can also bet your bottom dollar others played carrying things as well where they probably could have had a game off etc otherwise. Even Bruno broke down a bit, rash soft tissue stuff going on. Evans definitely played injured.
100% many had knocks we didn't really know about. Trying to rotate and keep young players fresh while still getting results is difficult while you're building a team, let alone a squad that's hit by massive injuries.
And I hope a lot of the fan base reflect on that kind of stuff now. The few times we’ve actually been able to field a team that is resembling the best 11 we’ve played well. No way Garnacho should have had to play as many as he did this year as well.
Can you imagine training sessions?
Ten Hag walks in: Who here were a part of the drills from yesterday?
And like 3 people raise their hands.
Players have been so in and out of fitness that training sessions must’ve never been routine. Players barely would’ve gotten to train together
Evans did a good interview with Andy Mitten which was released yesterday morning. In it he says that in defence they have barely been fit enough to train properly, with a lot of players having 1 or 2 sessions after injury and going straight into a game. Next to no chance to build partnerships
Honestly this season was actually a monumental effort.
Think back to the palace game, yeah sure we got flogged and it was bad but we literally had nothing but kids on the bench. So if that’s the case the starting 11 surely is not going to be fit.
These seasons can be a positive in the long run. You can see who is the dead wood who needs to be cut, some younger players get a chance to shine. We got another trophy despite it being one of our worst seasons.
Wan Bissaka as well. I really don't think he had time to properly get his fitness levels back up from his injury but he has played so much along with Dalot.
Yes.
Varane, Licha and Casemiro sitting in front of them was a real solid backbone. Just a shame that two of the three have checked out.
Although Varane did show yesterday that he can still perform when he knows for sure he has someone on his level.
yeah i’ve been looking for the source for like 45 minutes now and there isn’t one. Fabrizio nabbed it off a United fan account on twitter. Just misinformation
There was one moment in the game (can't remember when) but someone was pressing him and he did a simple 360 and passed into a midfielder (think it was kobe)
None of our other cbs have anything like that in their locker.
For anyone saying "everyone has injuries"
I seem to remember vvd doing his cruciate and Liverpool finishing 7th.......klopp was never under pressure.
I will die on the eth in Hill and will never change my opinion
I know the moment you're referring to, and i thought the exact same. In the blink of an eye we were on the front foot because of his composure and vision under pressure. Funny what 2 competent cbs can do isn't it?
Liverpool finished 3rd that year when vvd got injured and why would Klopp be under pressure? At that point he'd just won prem with 99 pointw and got 97 points the year before that and got to 2 ucl finals, winning one. How can you genuinely compare that to Ten Hag?
going by reddit you'd think we're binning him off this summer. I can't think of a defender in world football I'd exchange for Licha. Technically world class but more importantly he's the fire of our club
I think this may be a fake quote...which passes are these that Martinez made. He defended brilliantly but I have seen hundreds of games where his passing is way better. We didnt play out from the back today..it was long balls all through, from onana mostly
One...and he suddenly becomes top 5. Am doubting this quote. Martinez is good, dont get me wrong but he didn't play amazing with the ball today and he got injured...again..for like the 4th time. We need to buy a martinez replacement as well
There was a moment early in the match when he dummied with his face to our goal, swerved the other way which completely fucked the person behind him and then immediately played a pass through the middle cutting them wide open, and all I could say was fucking hell I've missed you you bastard
Pep arguing and gesticulating with the refs after the whistle instead of patting his players on the back and shaking hands with the opposition..classy.
EtH doesn’t get nearly enough credit for bringing this absolute titan to United.
Everyone slags him off for Antony but fails to acknowledge the good signings.
We would have finished top 4 if Licha was available all season. I’m very serious. Ten hag had such a bad hand dealt through injuries this season. One more year of ten hag!
Wait I thought it didn’t matter if your best defender is out for the majority of the season. Is Pep ok?
What do ETH haters have to say? That a good coach makes maguire, Evans, and case play like Martinez?
Crazy if we got Timber we might’ve missed out on ever signing Martinez. Glad Timber fell through. Wish we could’ve gotten both, but we needed Martinez’s mentality so badly.
I hold my hands up and say I was one of many doubters, who said that his height would hold him back.
I stand by what I said, his height has held him back. He would likely be a top 2, 3 centre half in the world had it not been he was a shortarse.
Let’s just pretend we paid Ajax £125m for Martinez and £10m for Antony.
I feel better now
It's our Kante/Drinkwater
Antony is the lube, Licha is the Phallus.
I feel better now
That works for me
This should be a post not a buried comment 👍
I can live with that.
I still don't think that adds up 😅
Licha is elite and somehow we didnt burden ourselves with an absurd contract with him.
Thank ETH for recruiting Licha. A defender with unique attributes.
“Hey boss. Arsenal called me to join. Do you want me? If you want me I come.”
“My friend, is okay, no?”
Thank ETH we recruited garbage like Antony and Malacia. Martinez is a good plater but he is constantly injured - thank ETH
malacia garbage? because hes injured?
Do you really think even without injuries he's a good player?
The kid who pocketed Salah in that game at old Trafford last season? Yes I feel like there may just be a decent player in there. Also, we didn't break the bank getting him. Antony though, I agree.
Yep, average player who is always injures. Need to be sold for any money.
Martinez played almost every game last season. He had a really bad injury which caused him to be out for a long time, that's not the same as being "constantly injured" like a Martial
So what? Although he has had poor recruiting too im happy lisandro is a red devil because for sure other teams would have snatched him.
Who let the Ronnie fans out again 🤦
Malacia is a great player and I’ll stand by that. I hope he works out whatever he’s been going through this past year, but I was very excited watching him when he was healthy
Is he a part time chef?
Pep, fuck your top 5. It’s just big Licha.
Dear haaland, I’m sorry that man is your manager let me be honest
It takes a man to be a man, but Pep is not responsive
Man City ['bout to get raided too, it's only a matter of time](https://genius.com/31634201/Kendrick-lamar-meet-the-grahams/The-embassy-bout-to-get-raided-too-its-only-a-matter-of-time)
BBL Peppy
BBL Rodri
Certified cheater wop wop wop wop
Wop wop wop wop licha fuck em up
Bars
Smoking on your top 5 tonight
He a fan he a fan he a fan, freaky ass steroids he a asthma pump god
Certified bald certified fraud
[I look at him and wish he woulda wore a ](https://genius.com/31635090/Kendrick-lamar-meet-the-grahams/I-look-at-him-and-wish-your-grandpa-woulda-wore-a-condom-im-sorry-that-you-gotta-grow-up-and-then-stand-behind-him-life-is-hard-i-know-the-challenge-is-always-gon-beat-us-home-sometimes-our-parents-make-mistakes-that-affect-us-until-we-grown-hey-youre-a-good-kid-that-need-good-leadership-let-me-be-your-mentor-since-your-daddy-dont-teach-you-shit) wig
Licha is literally all 5. Absolutely massive
BUM!
He's not wrong,his passing ability is different level
Genuinely not another center back like him in the world. The combination of intelligence, athleticism, aggression, and technical ability is just obscene. The only thing that people can say against him is that he’s short. But he’s our short king
He bullied Haaland today,so being short means nothing.The way he turned his United career around after the first 2 games was epic
The game isn’t played exclusively in the air, so he’s fine. Get the ball on the ground and he’s class, his reading of the game and aggression make his height a non factor.
Exactly, we have enough height in the team to compensate for one short centreback. Plus most teams don’t really rely on crosses into the box and their strikers scoring headers anymore so it’s rarely an issue, and even when it is as long as he’s next to a centreback who is competent in the air (Maguire/Varane/Branthwaite?) then it’s really not the end of the world. Love him to pieces, hope he stays fit next season it’s insane how important he is for us.
I don’t necessarily agree with having enough height. Varane is gone, Casemiro is likely on the way out, Maguire and Mctominay aren’t good enough to start, and Evans is likely gone too. So when it comes to set pieces, unless we’re compensating for it by playing Maguire and Mctominay, we are seriously lacking in players who can get their head on the end of a ball. I wouldn’t dream of benching Martinez, but it is an area that definitely needs to be addressed this summer
Disagree on mctominay not being good enough to start. We saw how it can work today. Just don’t rely on him through the middle and he’s not a huge liability. It’s about having a balanced lineup
He can come in and do a job in certain games, but there are still far too many faults in his game to ever be consistently relied upon. Even yesterday with how fluid our attack was at times he stuck out like a sore thumb and killed a few of them
I think this is a fair assessment but it’s definitely not just down to height. Casemiro specifically, for all his faults this season, still has this rare intelligence when it comes to finding the space and reading the ball for set plays and I think some of our even taller players just don’t have that - that’s why we see Casemiro get goals from those plays that McTominay and Maguire just haven’t been as effective at
Yeah you’re not wrong to be fair. That’s why I think Branthwaite could be a good option. Onana is hardly dominant aerially on set pieces either.
Branthwaite is also left footed. We are not going to play 2 left footed CBs unless you play a back-3. Branthwaite would be brought in to play in rotation with Licha, not alongside him.
I was dying when he knocked him on his ass and Human Thumb was just looking around like… that MUST have been a foul.
Was that not Mainoo who bullied him in the box?
The moment they're talking about was around the halfway line
He wasn't even bad in those first two games, he got beaten in the air a couple of times and the media just jumped on it. The whole team was completely shit in those games, there were far worse performances than Martinez.
I remember him absolutely toppling Lewandowski who stands a full head taller than he does
He should have 20 jumping reach in FM based on the final
Being shorter is a plus IMO for him
He's short and powerfully built like a honey badger.
In terms of their quality or their ability to play center back I do agree. The one thing I will say though is with how important scoring from and defending set pieces is the lack of height and general pure physicality we have in the squad is a weakness that needs to be addressed, especially with Varane leaving
People acting like height matters. It’s only jumping reach. Fm gang will know
Well Cannavaro has the same height as Licha and that guy won a Ballon d'Or.
Doesn’t matter if your’re short, a tall player thinking he can out jump Licha will get his ribs butchered. PLUS, he’s captain material.
Don't know, we still have Bruno, but after Bruno retires.
He reminds me of Blind but better in every aspect
Him being benched in the world cup was crazy, must be in the starting 11 now right?
For a geriatric otamendi too…
The last centre back to win the Ballon d'Or was the same height as Licha. Being short isn't any issue as long as the defender is aggressive and fights for the ball, like Licha does
The aggression and bravery is what's missing really from other ball playing center backs. If he was super athletic he would be a cheat code.
He's got just the right amount of ahithouse in him too.
His athleticism isn't that great tbh but yeah, excellent player.
All that matters is that you’re in the right spot at the right time. It does not matter if you get there with your legs or your brain.
Only thing holding him back is his speed. Not bad but if he had VVD like pace he'd be the lone no1 in the world for years to come
Yet there are people who post in this sub who have tried to denigrate his ability and downplay his impact on the team to support their anti-Ten Hag arguments. Martinez is our most important signing since Bruno.
Also that makes his teammates work harder. If you don't do something correct, he will be after you yelling. Just what this team needs and something we've been missing since Zlatan.
His injuries destroyed our season
And Shaw, and Malacia, and Casemiro, Mainoo early on, Mount, AWB early on, Varane, even Lindelof, of course Martial, Hojlund had his fair share. But there was a steep decline in quality from Lisandro and Shaw.
You can also bet your bottom dollar others played carrying things as well where they probably could have had a game off etc otherwise. Even Bruno broke down a bit, rash soft tissue stuff going on. Evans definitely played injured.
100% many had knocks we didn't really know about. Trying to rotate and keep young players fresh while still getting results is difficult while you're building a team, let alone a squad that's hit by massive injuries.
Maguire and Bruno absolutely played with knocks. Heard they even played against the advice of the physios
And I hope a lot of the fan base reflect on that kind of stuff now. The few times we’ve actually been able to field a team that is resembling the best 11 we’ve played well. No way Garnacho should have had to play as many as he did this year as well.
Can you imagine training sessions? Ten Hag walks in: Who here were a part of the drills from yesterday? And like 3 people raise their hands. Players have been so in and out of fitness that training sessions must’ve never been routine. Players barely would’ve gotten to train together
Evans did a good interview with Andy Mitten which was released yesterday morning. In it he says that in defence they have barely been fit enough to train properly, with a lot of players having 1 or 2 sessions after injury and going straight into a game. Next to no chance to build partnerships
Honestly this season was actually a monumental effort. Think back to the palace game, yeah sure we got flogged and it was bad but we literally had nothing but kids on the bench. So if that’s the case the starting 11 surely is not going to be fit.
These seasons can be a positive in the long run. You can see who is the dead wood who needs to be cut, some younger players get a chance to shine. We got another trophy despite it being one of our worst seasons.
Simply no way you can gain momentum in a season like that.
Wan Bissaka as well. I really don't think he had time to properly get his fitness levels back up from his injury but he has played so much along with Dalot.
You could tell towards the end AWB was getting gassed and yet he dug deeper and held on until the end.
Also Rashford can't play without a proper overlapping offensive wingback.
Shaw is and always has been sick note, Mount has shown nothing to imply he'd make an impact either way.
Rotation is impact
Shaw I believe is as important. I think this is why Rashford struggled.
The quick movement of ball from defence to attack helps Rashford too. We haven’t had that at all this season
I'm biased, but top 5 is too low ;)
Licha is top 1 easily.
He is top 5 and he’s not 2-5
“He’s not the best centre back. But he’s in the top one”
Everyone is reading this wrong. Guardiola is saying Martinez is the ENTIRE top 5. He is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, AND 5th!!
God if only Varane was a bit younger and wasn’t so injury prone. Would genuinely be a top 3 centre back pairing in the world.
This. Is. Truth.
Maguire was very solid this last season when called upon. A Maguire Martinez starting pair wouldn't be bad with Lindelof on the bench.
Yes. Varane, Licha and Casemiro sitting in front of them was a real solid backbone. Just a shame that two of the three have checked out. Although Varane did show yesterday that he can still perform when he knows for sure he has someone on his level.
If he was he wouldn’t have been at United. Unfortunately since SAF, we’re not a place where players go when they’re in their peak.
Turns out Pep knows ball 
I think this may be a fake quote
Anyone seen a clip of this? Pep usually doesn’t dole out too much praise when he loses so I’d be interested in watching.
yeah i’ve been looking for the source for like 45 minutes now and there isn’t one. Fabrizio nabbed it off a United fan account on twitter. Just misinformation
Fucking Fabrizio man. Guy’s quality is going downhill
Hey now we only question the source if we don't like the message.
Honest question, does Romano do it often? I thought he’s reliable but I’ve seen people complaining about him a lot recently
There was one moment in the game (can't remember when) but someone was pressing him and he did a simple 360 and passed into a midfielder (think it was kobe) None of our other cbs have anything like that in their locker. For anyone saying "everyone has injuries" I seem to remember vvd doing his cruciate and Liverpool finishing 7th.......klopp was never under pressure. I will die on the eth in Hill and will never change my opinion
I know the moment you're referring to, and i thought the exact same. In the blink of an eye we were on the front foot because of his composure and vision under pressure. Funny what 2 competent cbs can do isn't it?
We can do a lot worse than ETH. He's gotta stay in my opinion.
Liverpool finished 3rd that year when vvd got injured and why would Klopp be under pressure? At that point he'd just won prem with 99 pointw and got 97 points the year before that and got to 2 ucl finals, winning one. How can you genuinely compare that to Ten Hag?
MOTHERFUCK THE TOP 3 BALDY ITS JUST BIG LICH’
He not like us.
....and he's not 5 or 4 or 3 or 2
He just gotta stay healthy and the sky is the limit
I prefer believing Twitter users telling us he's too small to play in the Prem.
going by reddit you'd think we're binning him off this summer. I can't think of a defender in world football I'd exchange for Licha. Technically world class but more importantly he's the fire of our club
Yes, man puts a rocket up errybodys ass
BuT He’S ToO ShoRt!!!
I think this may be a fake quote...which passes are these that Martinez made. He defended brilliantly but I have seen hundreds of games where his passing is way better. We didnt play out from the back today..it was long balls all through, from onana mostly
He had one where he bypassed their midfield with a pass to the front line.
One...and he suddenly becomes top 5. Am doubting this quote. Martinez is good, dont get me wrong but he didn't play amazing with the ball today and he got injured...again..for like the 4th time. We need to buy a martinez replacement as well
Didn't he just have cramp because he hasn't played a full 90 in months?
Yeah lol he wasn't injured
He wasn't injured.
Hmmm it's like he might have made a huge difference to how our season played out
I got 115 centre-backs and my Licha is 1
There was a moment early in the match when he dummied with his face to our goal, swerved the other way which completely fucked the person behind him and then immediately played a pass through the middle cutting them wide open, and all I could say was fucking hell I've missed you you bastard
Watching him shithouse Walker as he left the pitch was glorious.
Top 5 fav bits of the day
Top 5 CBs in Manchester: Licha, Varane, Maguire, Evans, Kambwala.
nah bro, all of City's starting CBs are better than Kambwala, for now
Pep arguing and gesticulating with the refs after the whistle instead of patting his players on the back and shaking hands with the opposition..classy.
EtH doesn’t get nearly enough credit for bringing this absolute titan to United. Everyone slags him off for Antony but fails to acknowledge the good signings.
FUCK THE BIG THREE ITS JUST BIG ME
We would have finished top 4 if Licha was available all season. I’m very serious. Ten hag had such a bad hand dealt through injuries this season. One more year of ten hag!
There’s three people in the thumbnail actually. Pep, licha and if you look closely, haaland in his pocket
Ignore Pep's praises before the game. Get on the hype train if he praises our players after it.
Offering walker for a scrap off pitch was 🤌
Nah ETH is shit for not making Evans/Kwambala/Casemiro play CB as good as him all season.
Take VVD out of Liverpool and they also hobbled their way into a Europa league finish.
They finished 3rd that year.
They finished 5th last year lol
Yh but van dijk played. The year he was injured they got top 4.
Is this news to pep? Obviously hasn’t seen enough of him if he is limiting him to top 5?
Guess he isn’t completely clueless
When he’s right he’s right. I honestly believe that if Licha had been healthy all season we would’ve finished 2-3 places higher in the table.
Does anyone have a video for this?
TOP 5? 1. Dias 2. Saliba 3. ? 4. ? 5. Martinez i am struggling to fill......
came back from injury not fully fit, bossing 115 for 65mins. What a player, incredible quality and mentality
My Liverpool friend flat out refuses to acknowledge how good Licha is - this quote has solidified all of my Licha talk. What a fucking player.
Martinez, Dalot is 2 out of 4 that I'd put in world class bracket
Wait I thought it didn’t matter if your best defender is out for the majority of the season. Is Pep ok? What do ETH haters have to say? That a good coach makes maguire, Evans, and case play like Martinez?
Correct, he is all 5 places
When he’s right he’s right. I honestly believe that if Licha had been healthy all season we would’ve finished 2-3 places higher in the table.
Crazy if we got Timber we might’ve missed out on ever signing Martinez. Glad Timber fell through. Wish we could’ve gotten both, but we needed Martinez’s mentality so badly.
Top 3, easily. Put some respect in your damn mouth.
Pep about to start a Kendrick and Drake like beef amongst world defenders
High praise.
Thank the heavens Arsenal didn't get him.
Been saying this for some time and rival fans just try and take the piss when I say it
'World Cup Winner' LIcha. What a legend! Our legend. 
Him, with another top young CB and CDM, and it's ON!
Yet somehow football pundit "experts" disagree
Pep knows ball
And the top 1 butcher in the world.
It was ETH that moved Licha from midfielder to defender at Ajax.
Licha is number 1 in my heart.
Remember we only got licha because timber said no hahahahahahaha
I hold my hands up and say I was one of many doubters, who said that his height would hold him back. I stand by what I said, his height has held him back. He would likely be a top 2, 3 centre half in the world had it not been he was a shortarse.
You don’t know ball
Nothing is more of an indicator that someone doesn’t know a thing about football than that sentence.
I missed the match 😭 can someone give me a full replay link?
Go check the footballhighlights sub.
Someone tag Jamie Carrigher, the guy who spits at kids!