Jamie Carragher has condemned Lisandro Martinez’s criticism of the Manchester United hierarchy, describing the defender’s comments after the 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid as “awful” and saying his own start to the season had been “really poor”.
Martinez questioned the club’s summer recruitment strategy following United’s defeat in Madrid, which extended their winless run to five matches and increased pressure on manager Michael Carrick.
The Argentina international said he had expected more from those in charge, specifically mentioning technical director Jason Wilcox after United failed to strengthen at left-back and up front during the transfer window.
“It doesn’t do anybody any good at all,” Carragher said. “I think it’s awful that he’s come out and said that right now. I do.”
The former Liverpool defender also rejected Martinez’s assessment of United’s previous campaign, when they finished third in the Premier League and secured a return to the Champions League.
“When he’s saying ‘we had a fantastic season last season’, they didn’t,” Carragher said. “A manager got sacked last season. Sacked.”
He added that United’s third-place finish had been helped by their early exits from the cup competitions and poor seasons for Liverpool and Chelsea, arguing that “now we’re seeing the real Manchester United this season”.
“And him as well, when he’s talking at the start of this season – I think he’s a good player, by the way, he’s a World Cup winner, I get that – he’s had an awful start to the season. Awful. Really poor,” Carragher said.
What Lisandro Martinez said about Manchester United
United spent £155 million on four major summer signings after finishing third last season, but Martinez said the club needed to do more to build a squad capable of competing.
“I have to control myself a lot, but sometimes it’s a reflection of how our club is at the moment,” Martinez told Amazon Prime.
“We had a fantastic season last season, and now we expect more from the top, from upstairs, to bring in more players to compete because many teams have brought in many players as well.”
Asked whether he had expected greater investment, Martinez replied: “Yes, 100 per cent. I expect more from our technical director. I have to be honest. And also, as a player, we have to do more.”
He defended Carrick, saying the manager was doing his best, but questioned whether the club’s problems could be addressed simply by changing managers.
“You start changing, changing, changing managers. But what about [moves his eyes upwards] other areas?” Martinez said, before adding that it was easy to blame the coach or the players while other parts of the club also needed to be examined.
Wayne Rooney also criticised the defender’s intervention, saying Martinez had “maybe gone a bit too far” and that such concerns should have remained internal.
Rooney acknowledged that United needed further investment, but said Martinez’s performances did not justify the nature of his comments.
“He is probably one of the players who is out the door through his performances. His performances haven’t been good enough,” Rooney said.
The former United captain also described the remarks as disrespectful to Martinez’s team-mates, arguing that they suggested the squad was not good enough.
“Bruno is the only one who has any right to come out and say anything like that as captain,” Rooney said. “And even then it should be behind closed doors if there are issues.”
