Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg criticised Lisandro Martinez after Manchester United's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, saying the defender made him 'feel a bit sick' with his behaviour.
Michael Carrick's future at United was plunged into further doubt on Saturday as his side's winless streak extended to nine matches in all competitions with the loss at Stamford Bridge. Morgan Rogers broke the deadlock five minutes into the second half before a quickfire pair of yellow cards for Martinez left the visitors with ten men. Cole Palmer scored the penalty awarded after Martinez's second foul, and Chelsea held firm with their man advantage to record their fifth win of the Premier League campaign.
Pressure mounts on Carrick after defeat
The result moved Chelsea up into fourth place, while United sit above the relegation zone only on goal difference ahead of a home clash with Aston Villa next weekend. Before the match, reports indicated Carrick would be given the chance to fight for his future after United's disastrous start to the season, but the latest setback has heaped more pressure on the head coach.
In his post-match analysis for Viaplay, Ljungberg said he felt sorry for Carrick and accused Martinez of 'letting his manager down' again.
'I feel, when I look at that, I feel sorry for Michael Carrick,' Ljungberg said. 'Everybody is slaughtering Carrick in the media and stuff, "Is he good enough as a coach, this and that", the players are not doing it.
'How they behave, Martinez doing what he did, I was there and I felt a bit sick. I've seen this quite a few times when he does stupid things, doesn't think about the team first. They let him down.'
Schmeichel and Murphy weigh in
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel echoed Ljungberg's criticism, suggesting Martinez's conduct on and off the pitch was 'not good enough'.
'He has cost so many goals and that is one of the issues with Manchester United, that they're leaking goals for fun,' Schmeichel said. 'If you're a big player, you played in a World Cup final, you just can't perform like that, come out with statements like that [after the Atletico Madrid match], and then perform like he did against Chelsea. Sorry, for me that's not good enough.'
Martinez's sending off means he will be suspended for United's upcoming match with Aston Villa. Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said on Match of the Day that there is a high chance the World Cup-winning defender will never play again under Carrick.
'It's getting that way. A player of that experience and quality, he knows better,' Murphy said. 'There's something obviously not right at the moment in his head, he's in a different space, because you don't see the poor performances for a player of that quality.
'There was the Dominic Solanke issue last week [against Tottenham] and then there was the interview, rant, whatever you want to call it and then today, his performance in the second half was just nowhere near it. To go and do that after you've just had a yellow… I don't know whether he's thinking of getting away, whether he's disgruntled at everything going on around the club, but he's given Carrick a really big dilemma now. When he's served the suspension, I think it's unlikely that Michael, if he's still the manager, is going to put him back in.'
Carrick expects to stay for Roma clash
Before their next Premier League match, United return to Champions League action at home to Roma. In his post-match interview with TNT Sports, Carrick said he expected to remain in charge for the group-stage contest. Asked if he expected to be in the dugout, Carrick said: 'Yeah.' When pressed further on his future, the United head coach said: 'I'm just looking forward to getting the boys ready for midweek now.'
