Lisandro Martinez has faced many obstacles in his path since joining Manchester United. He’s been criticized for his short height, inability to deal with the Premier League’s physicality and injury issues.
The 28-year-old is currently out for the rest of the 2024-25 season with a knee injury. That is especially gutting for fans considering how Martinez is widely considered as the most reliable defender at the club. His aggressive, no-nonsense style as well as impressive passing ability has made him a beloved figure.
However, there remain doubters about Martinez’s long-term potential. Manchester United legend Paul Scholes is the latest to take an unnecessary jibe at the centre-back. He stirred controversy in a recent episode of The Overlap Fan Debate.
The Englishman was asked if he feels that the Red Devils can win a Premier League title with Martinez as their centre-back. He answered: “Even when he’s fit he’s not good enough to win the Premier League with.”
Martinez refused to stay quiet on this issue, and he responded on an Instagram post: “This jinx guy is really hurting….You put him in Argentina, and he wouldn’t survive.”
In this context, ‘jinx guy’ is like an informal term for someone who brings bad luck. The centre-back seems to insinuate that Scholes’ negative criticism towards United is a cause for the club undergoing the difficult period.
Martinez also believes that someone like Scholes won’t be able to excel in Argentina. He seems to be indicating of the struggles faced by people in Argentina, including what he had to go through in his childhood.
Lisandro came from a poor family and even had to help his father, who was a bricklayer, with his construction job at times. Most fans are taking Martinez’s side on this, criticizing Scholes for criticizing the defender right after he suffered his third major injury over the last two years or so.
What the 28-year-old defender can only do is to come back even stronger than before and prove doubters like Scholes wrong by guiding the Red Devils to major titles in the near future.
