Iñigo Martínez (Ondarra, 1991) is officially a new Barça player as of yesterday. The Basque centre-back arrives to play a very particular role. The first thing to mention is that he is a left-sided centre-back. His basic formation was in this position, he has played there throughout his entire career, and he arrives at Barça to also cover the left sector. Therefore, a position specialist arrives. An aspect that is not minor considering that Barça 2022-2023 played with players converted to this side such as Christensen or Eric Garcia. As is usually the case with all left-handed players, he is very closed. This means that he does everything with his skillful leg, but dominates all types and all distances of passing. There are several data that confirm this. For starters, he has an 81.8% pass reliability. In short links it is very safe. His percentage of success in the last League was very high (95.8%). In addition, one of its best virtues is the medium or long diagonal scroll. He has signed a total of 7.5 changes of orientation on average per game, and is completing 60% of them successfully. An excellent record.
Iñigo Martínez is also not afraid to leave his area to follow the opponent. He never hesitates to jump into high pressure if the play calls for it. And when he does, he shows that he has great determination. Rarely can the pressing striker continue the action. What the new Blaugrana addition will bring is defensive force, as he is a footballer with strong feet and great control of hand-to-hand situations. These two factors make him a duel winner, a key trait in many match contexts where opponents’ transition attempts lead to actions where winning your one-on-one fight means the difference between attacking again or a dangerous chance to the opponent His game up top is another marked strength. He is not excessively tall (182 centimeters) but his excellent positioning and upper body power make him a bulwark in the aerial game. With 1.7 aerial disputes won on average per game, he was Athletic’s third best player. He won 57% of the duels he had in the last League. This is one of the two reasons why he is very good in the defense of the area against lateral crossing maneuvers or the opponent’s direct play. The other is his good defensive orientation when he is in the area. He always has the three basic references (ball, opponent and goal) controlled in these actions. And, in attack, he has a goal. When he joins the corners, he touches almost all of them if the ball is close to him.
Tactically, Barça’s new central defender provides a “hidden” point. And it is that, in case Xavi wants to surprise and use the same pattern of play as last season but deployed on the right instead of the left, Iñigo Martínez can be that hybrid piece between a central and a full-back on the left side . In other words, a Koundé in the left sector.
We could point to two weaknesses: the “turn and start” situations and the timing of the tackle. Unexpected deep passes create problems for him because he is not a footballer with agile maneuvers or a powerful first acceleration. That’s why you always need to be well positioned and alert to respond. And the truth is that many times it is. But when that doesn’t happen and he has a ready and faster striker in front of him, he suffers. On the other hand, Iñigo Martínez really likes to go to the ground to cut plays (he averages more than one tackle per match). And he doesn’t use it only for borderline situations but even for actions in which it might not be necessary. Many end well but it doesn’t always measure well when an entry is too risky.
He will neither change the life of Barça nor, a priori, come to be an undisputed starter, but he is a defender who will bring some new things that until now the squad did not have in the central axis.
