Jamie Carragher has criticised Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez for his post-match interview following the team's 2-0 defeat away to Atletico Madrid, calling the comments 'awful' and 'out of order'.
Martinez criticises United hierarchy
Martinez, 28, strongly criticised United's board for a lack of investment in the summer transfer window, leaving interim manager Michael Carrick short in several areas for his first full season in charge. The Argentine also called out the club's director of football, Jason Wilcox, saying he 'expects more' from him.
While Martinez's comments have earned praise from supporters who are also critical of Wilcox and the rest of United's hierarchy, Carragher believes the timing and content of the interview were inappropriate.
Carragher: 'I think it's awful'
Speaking on CBS Sports, Carragher said: "Doesn't do anybody any good at all, and they (the quotes) will be the story now for the next few days, all about this. Every set of supporters don't like the suits, the guys upstairs, so United fans will lap this up and think it's great."
"I think it's awful that he's come out and said that right now, I do. When he's saying they had a fantastic season last season, they didn't. A manager got sacked last season. Sacked."
Carragher added that United's third-place finish last season was misleading: "They finished third because they had no cup games, they weren't in Europe, got knocked out the cup competitions very early. Man United third. The reason they finished third is because Liverpool and Chelsea were that bad as well."
Financial constraints explained
The former Liverpool defender also explained why United did not spend heavily in the summer, pointing to the club's financial situation. "Now we're seeing the real Manchester United this season. The reason why they didn't buy players in the summer is because the last four or five years since Martinez has been there, I think they've been in the Champions League once - this season (sic)."
"So if every season you don't get Champions League money and every season Manchester United are spending £200million in the transfer market, sooner or later it has to stop because the money's not there. So this summer, the money Manchester United are paying out, it's for players they bought years ago, the next instalment of it. That's why there isn't that money there, you can't just keep going with it."
Carragher also criticised Martinez's own form this season, saying: "Because there's a squad of players with different managers, they haven't achieved anything. They've been awful, awful again tonight. And him as well when he's talking about 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."
He concluded: "People will lap it up, Manchester United fans will, that doesn't do nobody any good at all... This will just be the talk of the town now. This will blow up, explode and I think he's out of order."
Martinez and his team-mates have won two of their nine games this season.
