While the Treble winner was a similarly aggressive centre-back, he believes our current no.6's ability on the ball and desire to play forward passes have become just as valuable to the way Erik ten Hag wants his team to play.
Stam, who celebrates his 51st birthday today (Monday), feels there is still a place for controlled aggression in the modern game, where VAR will pick up on any serious wrongdoing. But the former Reds defender is keen to stress Martinez brings a whole lot of other qualities to the team, making it easy to see why the manager was so determined to bring the South American to England.