Manchester United have been told to let Lisandro Martinez off without punishment after his explosive rant following the midweek defeat at Atletico Madrid. The result left United winless in each of their previous five matches, with the pressure starting to mount on Michael Carrick’s shoulders.
That pressure wasn’t made any easier when Martinez broke rank in the immediate aftermath of the Atletico match by criticising the club’s hierarchy. Martinez offered up a scathing assessment of the United board, and hinted that change at the top was necessary.
Martinez's Scathing Assessment
Going out of his way to mention the club’s recruitment strategy, Martinez said: "I expect more, honestly. I expect more from our sporting director [Wilcox]. I have to be honest. And also, as a player, we have to do more. It's also important to build a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night."
"In general, I think last season we did everything. We created the base to build an amazing team. But this is something, to be honest, and to prove something. It's annoying and disappointing coming here. I'm not seeing my team trying to get an amazing result here. It's disappointing."
Team-mate Confrontation and Fan Support
Martinez then reportedly was confronted by a team-mate on the plane journey back to the UK, before issuing a statement on the matter that fell short of an apology. It’s an assessment that has split opinion, with many ex-pros having slated Martinez for his comments. But, in a poll ran by Express Sport, a whopping 85 per cent of over 1,500 voters don’t think Martinez should be punished.
Instead, the general consensus among voters is that Martinez was well within his rights to crucify the United board in the manner that he did. It’s a completely different opinion from the one held by Jamie Carragher, who slammed Martinez for his outburst.
Carragher's Criticism
Speaking to CBS Sports, Carragher remarked: "It doesn't do anybody any good at all, and they will be the story now for the next few days all about this."
"Every set of supporters don't like the suits or 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. And when he's saying 'we had a fantastic season last season', they didn't. A manager got sacked last season. Sacked."
