Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez criticized the club's board for a perceived lack of investment after the team's 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. This loss marked United's fifth consecutive game without a win across all competitions, contributing to their worst start to a league season in 40 years.
"Really poor," Martinez stated to Amazon Prime when discussing the team's performance against Atletico. He expressed that the situation reflects the current state of the club, saying, "I have to control myself a lot but sometimes is a reflection… [or] mirror of how our club is at the moment."
Martinez expected more investment in the squad over the summer, particularly after United finished third in the Premier League last season and returned to the Champions League. He remarked, "I expect more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox]. As players, we have to do more, but it is also important when you make a strong squad to be ready for these kind of nights."
He noted that last season, the club had established a foundation for a strong team, but they did not build on it.
Pressure is increasing on coach Michael Carrick following the team's winless streak, but Martinez suggested that changing the manager is not the solution. "You can’t keep changing, changing, changing the manager. What about other areas? I can’t say more," he said.
Martinez added, "Tonight it is easy to say the coach [is to blame], easy to say the players, but also we have to see other areas."
Minority owner Jim Ratcliffe attended the match against Atletico Madrid, which was a league-phase defeat to last season's semi-finalists. Manchester United spent approximately 140 million pounds ($185 million) this summer on midfielders Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans, and Andrey Santos, but fans expressed disappointment over the lack of reinforcements in other positions, including left-back and striker.
After the game, Carrick stated he had not heard Martinez's comments and could not evaluate them. "I think it’s a little bit on the emotions of the game as well, of coming here and being disappointed not to get something from the game," he said.
Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney commented that Martinez's criticism was excessive, stating, "I think he’s maybe gone a bit too far, and that should have stayed internal. You can clearly see that he cares and he wants the club to invest more money in more players, and to do that he’s probably one of the players who’ll be out the door if I’m being honest."