
2. Technically sound, ball-playing defender
A prerequisite for any Arsenal player is to be cool, calm, and assured with the ball at their feet. Given how Mikel Arteta wants the Gunners to play out from the back at times, being assured in possession is paramount.
Anyone who googled Martinez since the news dropped will know that the defender is a slick customer. His ability to ping diagonal passes 45+ yards for Ajax was beautiful. Technically, Martinez is outstanding.
Lisandro Martinez is the real deal man. Especially on the ball - calm under pressure but his best attribute is lofted balls over the top in-behind the back-line.
— Matthew (@_halfspaces) June 17, 2022
Martinelli & Saka will thrive because of the off-ball runs they make coming from wide.pic.twitter.com/OHVFuMLSom
As we saw with Alexandre Lacazette’s goal against Southampton, the way the team can build up an attack from defence is one of its strengths, and Martinez will have no problem with his one-touch passing, creating neat little triangles, and feeding the ball into the likes of Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey all day long.
In Martinez, Arsenal will have another superb ball-playing defender at its disposal.
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