Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has made an extremely harsh and open comment against the club's management, directing his attack directly at director of football Jason Wilcox. The Argentina international's emotional reaction came immediately after the 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, and is based on disappointment with the transfer policy of “Old Trafford“.
Tensions around manager Michael Carrick are rising after the “Red Devils“ have won just one of their last seven games. Martinez, however, was adamant that the blame for the crisis should not be placed on the coaching staff or the players, but on the upper echelons, where they have not secured the necessary signings. Last summer, United invested nearly £150 million - an amount that is significantly lower than the costs of their main rivals in the Premier League.
The Argentine spared no expense in his post-match interview:
“Extremely weak. Very weak. I have to control myself a lot, but sometimes it is just a reflection in the mirror of what the state of our club is at the moment. Last season we had a fantastic campaign and now we expect more from the people at the top - more players to be competitive, because many teams have also attracted a lot of players.“
Martinez stressed that despite Atletico's good performance, problems exist within the English giant itself:
“Atletico have a great team and deserved to win today. But I expect more. 100%. I expect more from our technical director. I have to be honest – As players we have to give more, but it is equally important to build a strong squad to be prepared for nights like this.“
Asked about the pressure on Michael Carrick, the defender resisted the idea of another coaching shake-up:
“You can't keep changing, changing, changing the manager. What about the other areas? I can't say more. It's easy to blame the manager tonight, it's easy to blame the players, but we have to look at the other levels. Carrick is doing the best he can.“
Concluding analytically, Lisandro Martinez warns that the club has missed the opportunity to build on what has been achieved:
“Every season is different. You can't rest on what you did last season. The opponents already know how you play, they know every detail and if you don't change something, next season becomes a big problem. Last year we did everything and laid the foundation for building an incredible team. It's annoying and disappointing to come here and not see your team trying to achieve a great result.“