Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez has slammed the club’s management for not strengthening the squad enough during the summer transfer window. This comes after their 2-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Argentina international defended manager Michael Carrick. He said the club’s recruitment choices should be looked at, not just blaming the coach and the players.
Martínez called out United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, to put more money into the team. He wants the squad to be strong enough to compete.
“Really poor. Really poor,” Martínez told Amazon Prime after the match in Madrid.
He added, “I have to control myself a lot, but sometimes it is a reflection of the mirror of how is our club at the moment.
“We did a fantastic season last season and now we expect more from the top, more players to compete because many teams bring many players as well.
“Atlético have an amazing team and they deserve to win today.
“But I expect more [investment]. 100%. I expect more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox].”
Martínez acknowledged that the players need to do better. But he insisted that a strong squad is key for competing in tough European matches.
“As players we have to do more, but it is also important when you make a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night,” he said.
Focus on Club Management
He also questioned why the club keeps focusing on changing managers when results go bad. He suggested that other parts of the club’s management should be checked too.
“You can’t keep changing, changing, changing the manager. What about other areas?
“Tonight it is easy to say the coach, easy to say the players but also we have to see other areas,” he said.
He backed Carrick, saying the manager is doing his best. He believes United needs to grow instead of just relying on last season's success.
“Last season we did everything, we created the base to create an amazing team.
“It is annoying, disappointing coming here and I am not seeing my team trying to get an amazing result here,” Martínez said.
According to ESPN, United spent about £150m on new players during the summer. This amount is much less than some of their Premier League rivals.
The loss to Atlético was United’s third defeat in five matches against the Spanish side. Carrick has only won one of his last seven games, which adds pressure on him.
After Martínez’s comments, Carrick said he did not watch the interview and did not want to comment on what the defender said.
“I haven’t seen it. After a game like this you come here to try and get something from the game and you are disappointed and can be emotional.
“I have not seen it so I don’t think it is the right time,” Carrick said.
Carrick maintained that his players are still committed despite the poor results.
He said, “We all care and show that in different ways but now is the time to be together and work through.
“As a group, I don’t doubt the togetherness or their wanting to win. Looking at the results, you could be saying it’s deeply wrong, but that’s not been the case.
“The players have been great, results haven’t, and they were desperate to get something out of the game.”
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