Lisandro Martinez was sent off at Chelsea after two yellow cards in 83 seconds. Football writer Henry Winter called it “pathetic”, and United broadcaster Scott Saunders said the defender should not be picked again. Is that fair?
Manchester United had arguably started the better side at Stamford Bridge. Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo each missed good chances, and Matheus Cunha had a goal ruled out for offside, so the match stayed 0-0 until Morgan Rogers ran through the middle and chipped United’s goalkeeper. What followed, as described by talkSPORT, turned a difficult afternoon into a damaging one.
Martinez’s first booking came for hauling down Rogers. From the resulting corner he was marking Wesley Fofana, lost him, and chased to the back post, where he elbowed Fofana in the face without looking at the ball. VAR recommended an on-field review, a penalty was awarded and the second yellow followed. Cole Palmer scored the penalty.
Winter: “almost mutinous”
Speaking with Shaun Custis on The Sunday Edition, Winter was blunt. “This was just pathetic,” he said. “83 seconds, he gets rolled and turned by Morgan Rogers and manages to bring him down at the third time of asking. Then, he loses Fofana at the corner and leads with his elbow into him and is sent off.”
He added that Martinez “quite rightly gets blanked by Michael Carrick as he goes down the tunnel”. “It is almost mutinous a red card like that,” Winter said. “It is a case of what are you doing? I thought it was absolutely shocking.”
The word “mutinous” matters because of the context around Carrick. We have covered the pressure on the manager this week, including Carrick’s own verdict on the “moments” at Chelsea and Carragher’s claim about his future. A senior player making a manager’s job harder with a needless dismissal reads, to Winter, as something worse than a mistake.
Saunders: “can’t play for Man United again”
Saunders, speaking on the talkSPORT Goals Show, went considerably further. “This guy is an idiot,” he said. “I know he likes to play on the edge, but that is pointless.” He made the point that the game was already slipping away at 1-0, but said the red card was “the icing on the cake”.
His conclusion was the strongest available: “This guy can’t play for Man United again.” Saunders also admitted Martinez had long been his favourite United player because of his intensity and tenacity, which made his disappointment sharper. “He is meant to be a leader in this team and if that is how leaders act, I dread to think where we are going,” he said. “He shouldn’t be picked again.”
The counter-view
The argument against Saunders is one of proportion. Martinez’s edge is exactly why he has been a valued player: the same aggression that produces a clumsy elbow at a corner also wins duels and sets the tone. Dropping a player for one error, however costly, is a decision about the squad’s mood as much as about discipline. Saunders himself acknowledges that Martinez’s intensity is what he admired.
There is also a difference between the two verdicts. Winter judged the sequence: two bookings, a lost marker, an elbow without looking at the ball. Saunders judged the player’s future. The first is hard to dispute on the evidence of the footage, as described. The second depends on who else is available and what Carrick wants his defence to look like.
If United’s next performance without him is better, the question will answer itself. If it is not, Saunders’s verdict will look harsh, and Winter’s word “pathetic” will seem to be aimed at a problem that goes beyond one defender.
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