Michael Carrick believes Lisandro Martinez's explosive comments about his Manchester United bosses have galvanised the squad and brought them closer together. Carrick held showdown talks with Martinez, along with director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada, after training on Thursday and said a line had been drawn under the saga.
Despite suggestions that Martinez's comments could cause a split in the dressing room, the head coach believes they have had the opposite effect.
Talks held after training
"It's done, really," said Carrick. "Moved on from that. It was one of those things. We all understood the situation and what it meant. Lisandro obviously made his statement, and he acknowledges that it was a mistake from him, and that was it. It's really not drama for us as a group."
"The boys have trained really well. This morning, there was a really good feeling around the squad, a really good feeling. I have to say, they were in really good spirits and trained really well, so we've moved on pretty quickly."
Squad galvanised by crisis
Speaking after the game on Tuesday, Wayne Rooney said Martinez's comments could "rip a dressing room apart", but Carrick believes they might have had the opposite effect, especially after what was a more encouraging performance in Madrid.
"Certain situations, it can galvanise the group, and it's certainly galvanised the group as this week's progressed, and the boys are, I have to say, in a really good place right now," he said. "You can see there's a real sense and a feeling within the group that we want to do something about this situation, and we want to do something about it really quickly."
Martinez statement and availability
Martinez tore into the United hierarchy while conducting a TV interview after the defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night, saying he "expected more" from director of football Jason Wilcox. Martinez accused the club of showing a lack of ambition and said he expected more recruitment this summer to build on last season's success under Carrick, claiming the head coach hadn't been backed as the players had expected.
The 28-year-old released a statement on Wednesday explaining his comments, but after talks on Thursday, he released another statement in which he apologised for the "time and place" of his comments, although he didn't apologise for their nature. Carrick shrugged off the lack of a direct apology to Wilcox in that statement and felt the situation had now been dealt with, confirming Martinez was available for Sunday's trip to Ellard Road.
"I think he's released his statement, and he's realised he's made a mistake, and I think that's enough for all of us to move on with," he said. "From our point of view, the acknowledgement of what's been done has certainly been enough, and we've moved on, and we're definitely not looking back at it now."
Carrick also insisted he was happy to continue carrying out media duties despite the silence from Wilcox, who last spoke publicly a year ago when United had won three games in a row. "I don't think that's for me to say whether he should or not," he said. "I think I've got absolutely no problem with how that's for me sitting here and talking to you guys and leading the group, leading the team, leading the football club from this position. We're all in it together, we're a really tight-knit group, so I'm happy to face anything that you want to ask me."
