Jamie Carragher insists Lisandro Martinez’s height will be ‘a problem’ for Manchester United after beating Liverpool

Jamie Carragher praised Lisandro Martinez’s ‘aggressive’ performance in Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool on Monday evening but insists the Argentine’s height will be a ‘problem’ for Erik ten Hag this season.

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Goals in each half from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford secured United’s first win of Ten Hag’s era after suffering consecutive defeats in the Premier League.

Martinez, meanwhile, started alongside Raphael Varane with Ten Hag opting to drop captain Harry Maguire to the bench.

The £56.7 million summer signing from Ajax delivered an impressive display at the heart of United’s defence, but while Carragher has acknowledged the Argentine’s performance, he believes his lack of height will be a worry.

‘I thought tonight would be his type of game,’ Carragher said of Martinez after United beat Liverpool.

‘It would be more about reading the game, clever runs in behind, being tight and aggressive, rather than Liverpool playing direct football.

‘He’s obviously a very aggressive player and this manager [Ten Hag] knows him better than anyone.

‘That’s what he’s about, he’s a really aggressive defender, he’s a fighter, in those first couple of games he was targeted, but that was never going to be the case against Liverpool, or a Man City, but it still will come and he’ll have to deal with that.

‘The thing I would say about Martinez is that he’s really aggressive, reads the game well, gets on the ball well.

‘What I would say about him, because of his size, is that is a problem for him. No matter what anyone says, being 5ft 9in is a problem.

‘But if I think of the best centre-back I’ve ever seen it is Franco Baresi. He was 5ft 9in, 5ft10. He didn’t play in England but you compensate