{"id":328986,"date":"2025-12-22T01:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T01:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/328986\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T01:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T01:08:09","slug":"lisandro-martinezs-makeshift-role-caught-gary-nevilles-eye-for-first-thing-he-did-for-man-utd-in-aston-villa-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/328986\/","title":{"rendered":"Lisandro Martinez’s makeshift role caught Gary Neville’s eye for ‘first thing’ he did for Man Utd in Aston Villa loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville dropped his two cents on Lisandro Martinez operating in a midfield role for Manchester United in the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Lisandro Martinez<\/a> has been eased back into the Manchester United first-team<\/a> squad in recent weeks after returning to action from a long-term knee injury.<\/p>\n

WHAT did you think of Lisandro Martinez\u2019s performance?\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf7 <\/p>\n

Do you want to see him in midfield again?<\/p>\n

\"LisandroGetty Images. <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

However, the 27-year-old Argentine defender stepped up in a major way on Sunday evening after Ruben Amorim<\/a> deployed him in the two-man midfield at Villa Park.<\/p>\n

Martinez came off the bench after the break in United\u2019s Premier League encounter with Villa<\/a>, with Bruno Fernandes<\/a> withdrawn from the pitch because of an injury.<\/p>\n

The 2022 World Cup winner partnered with Manuel Ugarte<\/a> in the Red Devils\u2019 pivot and Martinez\u2019s performance had United fans talking<\/a> a lot during the match.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Man Utd fans have lot to say about Jack Fletcher after debut in 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa, \u2018done way more\u2026\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\"LisandroPhoto by Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty ImagesWhat Gary Neville noticed from Lisandro Martinez\u2019s midfield display in Man Utd\u2019s Premier League defeat to Aston Villa<\/p>\n

Lisandro Martinez looked an assured presence for the Red Devils on Sunday evening, despite Manchester United\u2019s 2-1 Premier League loss to Aston Villa<\/a> at Villa Park.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old former Ajax star provided a real alternative pick for United manager<\/a> Ruben Amorim due to the absences of Casemiro<\/a> and Kobbie Mainoo<\/a> from the match.<\/p>\n

Martinez initially played alongside Manuel Ugarte before later sharing a midfield partnership with United<\/a> debutant Jack Fletcher<\/a> for the rest of the second half.<\/p>\n

Who was the Man Utd man of the match in the defeat at Villa? <\/p>\n

A positive performance despite the loss\u2026 who stood out for you?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Speaking during United\u2019s contest with Villa<\/a> at the weekend, Gary Neville<\/a> instantly noticed how Martinez showed his incredible versatility by playing in midfield.<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old United legend<\/a> singled out how Martinez was not afraid to retrieve the ball from Villa and tried to make an immediate impact from his makeshift role.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Martinez] is enjoying himself in there, he does the first thing well to win the ball, strides forward and hits across it, which means it is moving away from goal,\u201d Neville told Sky Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnited are playing really well and look the more comfortable team in the first 10 minutes of the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Gary Neville instantly \u2018surprised\u2019 by something Man Utd did involving two players vs Aston Villa in 2-1 defeat<\/a><\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim\u2019s reaction to Man Utd\u2019s Premier League defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park<\/p>\n

Amorim insisted that the Red Devils cannot use a single reason to \u201cexcuse\u201d their display against Villa, despite United performing well at Villa Park on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to prepare all the guys that we have for the next game,\u201d he told Sky Sports, as per BBC Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot use anything as an excuse. No-one is going to remember these problems, so let\u2019s cope with that. It will make us stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw from the beginning of the season a team that is going forward, but sometimes relax a little bit and sometimes is not there in the right moment to fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was completely the opposite, we were the better team against a team that is strong at home and in a very good run. We were really unlucky today.\u201d<\/p>\n

United are currently seventh in the Premier League table and the Red Devils are 10 points adrift from third-place Villa after their setback at the weekend.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville dropped his two cents on Lisandro Martinez operating in a midfield role for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,33718,3508,221,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-328986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-gary-neville","10":"tag-lisandro-martinez","11":"tag-premier-league","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}