Jaap Stam slams Lisandro Martinez’s critics for questioning his height after Manchester United transfer

Manchester United legend Jaap Stam has slammed those that questioned Lisandro Martinez’s height following his move to the club and says that the criticism was predictable.

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The Argentine joined the Red Devils in a £47m move in August, though the deal could reach around £56m if Martinez meets a number of clauses during his time at the club.

Martinez thrived during his two years at Ajax but at 5ft9, many questioned whether the Argentina international would be able to deal with the added physicality of Premier League football.

The defender’s critics were out in full force after United were beaten 4-0 by Brentford on the second week of the season.

Martinez was blamed for the loss and he was accused of being ‘bullied’, despite winning four out of five of his aerial duels.

But Stam says the criticism of the Argentine is lazy and he predicted that the English media would focus on Martinez’s height, rather than his strengths.

‘That was an easy one, the day when he signed for United, I had already said they will talk about his height,’ Stam told the Manchester Evening News. ‘Over here [England], everyone thinks as a centre-back you need to be big and tall, otherwise you won’t make it.

‘The thing is, you need to look at the big picture of how the manager wants to play because that’s the most important thing. He wants to play dominating football, meaning you need to have players at the back who are comfortable on the ball.

‘Of course, sometimes he’s going to get surprised, but that’s what also happens with big players – they make mistakes as well. Martinez shows his quality on the ball, he shows his quality when defending and his communication around him is good.

‘He just needs to keep going.’