Lautaro Martinez has come in for criticism for a poor display for Inter Milan against Roma yesterday.
The player ratings in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, only deem the Argentine’s “anonymous” performance to be worthy of 5/10.
This season, Martinez has certainly been Inter’s main man in attack.
The 26-year-old has responded to taking over the captain’s armband by scoring eleven goals so far in Serie A, and another one in the Champions League.
But against Roma yesterday evening, there was little indication of why this is the case.
Martinez hardly got a look at goal, and Inter had to look elsewhere for inspiration to break the deadlock.
Lautaro Martinez Criticized For Anonymous Display Vs Roma
It was Martinez’s strike partner Marcus Thuram who won all the plaudits yesterday.
The Frenchman scored the match’s only goal, capping off a fine performance.
And in truth, Thuram was everything that Martinez was not.
The Nerazzurri captain was not quite as much of a spark plug as he usually is.
Martinez did not really run at the Roma defense and create much chaos as he is capable of doing.
Moreover, the 26-year-old former Racing Club striker’s lack of real pace looked to be a problem as Roma’s back three of Diego Llorente, Evan Ndicka, and Giancluca Mancini managed to marshal him fairly well without too much effort.
And in the penalty area, Martinez didn’t quite sniff out the chances as he has done to such great effect for the majority of this season.
Even Martinez’s dropping into midfield did not quite have the effect that it usually does.
The Corriere speculate that part of the issue for Martinez may have been psychological. The Argentine was coming up against his former strike partner Romelu Lukaku.
But whatever it was, it was definitely not the best day at the office from the Inter captain.
