Inigo Martinez has been one of several revelations for Barcelona this season. At the end of the previous campaign, he was considered to be fourth-choice centre-back, and while that could still be the case once Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen once they return from long-term injuries, he has thrown down the gauntlet to be a nailed starter.
Alongside Pau Cubarsi, Martinez has been excellent, and there is no doubt that Hansi Flick will have also been very pleased with his performances. The experience defender spoke on his adaption to the German manager’s style of play, as per Sport.
“Flick, from the moment he arrived, had things clear, how he wanted us to play. In the end, even taking risks, I think it gives us more benefits than anything else. So, we continue with our philosophy, our idea. We do a lot of damage every time we steal. The fact that the opponent enters many times offside is usually complicated for them. You saw it in the last match. We enjoy ourselves. In the back you don’t enjoy much, to be honest, but we enjoy something.”
Martinez also spoke on Barcelona’s well-documented high defensive line, that has been responsible for so many opposition offsides. He is happy with the risk, although he also jokingly called out two of his fellow defenders for not always being alert to the dangers.
“Obviously, when you have fast strikers who know how you play and you see 50 meters behind you, of course you suffer. It is not easy, but when the back four get along so well, they are absolutely sure that 9 times out of 10 they will be offside. So, we take risks, it’s our way of playing. We are doing well and we will continue to do so.
“Balde is the most absent-minded of all on the back line, although Jules (Kounde) is also absent-minded from time to time, but hey, I have him much further away than Balde. It’s also true that he usually has to put up with me a lot during the game.”
