It was an open secret but now it is a reality. The Basque central defender joins the FC Barcelona project for the 2023-24 season. An incorporation that comes to play a very particular role. Here is my tactical analysis of what Iñigo Martínez can contribute:
The first thing to mention about the new Barça player is that if Barça were looking for a left-footed central defender, Iñigo Martínez is it. His base formation was in this position, he has played there throughout his career and he arrives at Barça to also cover this position. Therefore, a specialist arrives and that is not a minor fact. This is his positional map for the 2022-23 season in the League (@sofascore):
He is left-handed. That means he does it all with his good leg, but he dominates all typologies and all passing distances. There are several data that confirm it. To begin with, it has 81.8% reliability. On short links it is very reliable. Its success rate is very high (95.8%). One of its best virtues is the medium-long diagonal displacement. Because it not only draws a lot from it but it is very good. Last season he signed 7.5 orientation changes on average per game and was successful in 60% of them. An excellent record considering the difficulty of the action.
One of the most important points of the Barça game is that the whole team defends forwards. For which he is grateful to have central offices without fear of leaving their area to follow his peer and Iñigo is. He has no hesitation in jumping pressure far if the play calls for it. In addition, it has another extra component, that when it does, it does so with great determination. Rarely the striker who jumps, can continue the action. And if he does, he will do it awkwardly to continue the action.
What the new Barcelona incorporation will contribute is defensive forcefulness. He is a strong foot defender with great handling of melee situations. Two factors that make him a very winning footballer of duels. Something that in many Barça match contexts in which the transition attempts of the rivals cause actions where winning your individual duel is the difference between attacking again or a dangerous opportunity from the opponent.
Another of the ‘hidden’ points of the new Barça central defender is that, in the event that Xavi wants to surprise and use the same game pattern as last season but deploying on the right instead of the left, Iñigo can be that hybrid piece between central-lateral left side. If an attacking right-back ended up arriving, this could be another surprise argument for the coach.
His game above is another marked strength. He is not excessively tall (182 centimeters) but his excellent positioning and his upper body power are a combination that make him a bulwark in the passing game. With an average of 1.7 aerial disputes won per game, he was the third best player in Athletic. He won the 57th duels above that he had in the 2022/2023 League. A strong enough record to demonstrate this aspect. This is one of the two reasons why he is very good at defending the box against lateral cross maneuvers or direct play from the opponent. The other is his good defensive orientation when he is in the area. He always has the three basic references (ball, rival and goal) controlled in these actions. And in attack, he has a goal. When he joins in corners, he touches almost all of them if the ball falls close.
“Spin and go” situations when there is an unexpected deep pass become problematic for him. He is not a footballer with agile maneuvering or a powerful first acceleration. That’s why he always needs to be well positioned and alert to respond. And the truth is that, many times, he is. But when that doesn’t happen and he has a forward ready and faster than him in front of him, he suffers a lot.
Iñigo Martínez really likes to go to the ground to cut plays (he has an average of more than one tackle per game). And he not only uses it for extreme situations but even for situations in which it would not be necessary. But there is a point where he has to improve and that is that he does not always measure well when a tackle is too risky.
