Unseen footage has emerged showing the moment that may have helped trigger Lisandro Martinez's bombshell interview, in which the Manchester United defender criticised the club's hierarchy after a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Speaking to Amazon Prime, Martinez picked out technical director Jason Wilcox and criticised the summer transfer window. "I expected more from our technical director," he said. "I have to be honest, you know? And also, as players, we have to do more, but it's also important when you make a strong squad to be ready for these kinds of nights."
When asked which areas he felt needed to be strengthened, he added: "In general. I think last season we did everything; we created a base to build an amazing team. But this is something to be honest and to prove something, you know? Yeah, it's annoying, disappointing, to come here and not see my team trying to get an amazing result here. It's disappointing."
Heated exchange on the pitch
Before the interview, footage from on the pitch at full-time shows Martinez appearing to be slightly irked during a moment with international teammates Cristian Romero and Julian Alvarez. The start of the clip shared on social media appears to show Martinez approaching Alvarez angrily.
Romero then appears to step in as peacemaker. A quick heated conversation takes place between the two, before a quick handshake as they part ways, with Romero smiling as he walks away.
Fans on social media concluded that the moment was the 'trigger' for the outburst in the media. Romero himself has not been a stranger to speaking out against a club hierarchy. Back in January, during his time at Tottenham, he hit out on social media about people 'only showing up when things are going well'.
United's response unknown
Having spent the summer with the former Spurs man at the World Cup representing Argentina, Martinez could have got the idea of speaking out from his international teammate.
United's reaction as a club to the outburst is unknown, with Michael Carrick's side back in action on Sunday afternoon when they take on Leeds United away in the Premier League (2pm kick-off).
Giving his immediate response on Tuesday night, Carrick said: "I haven't seen the interview; I've heard about it as the interview was done, but I think it's a little bit on the emotions of the game as well. Coming here and being disappointed not to get something from the game. Straight after a game for me isn't the time to talk about that interview because I haven't seen it, so I can't really comment on that."
"But I think it's important for us to move forward quickly, really. There is a big game on Sunday, and it's really important that we move forward and we stay focused on that. There's disappointment within the group. I'm very disappointed in certain things, and the boys are as well."
