Manchester United’s problems have gone beyond the pitch, according to defender Lisandro Martinez, who has questioned the club’s lack of investment following another disappointing result.
United suffered a 2-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, extending their winless run to five matches across all competitions.
The defeat added to the pressure on manager Michael Carrick, with United also making their worst start to a Premier League season in 40 years.
Martinez did not hide his frustration after the match.
“Really poor,” he told Amazon Prime when asked about United’s performance.
“I have to control myself a lot but sometimes is a reflection of how our club is at the moment.”
The Argentine defender also expressed disappointment over the club’s transfer business during the summer.
United finished third in the Premier League last season and returned to the Champions League. However, Martinez believes the club failed to build on that progress.
Asked whether he expected more investment, Martinez replied “100 percent.”
“I expect more from our technical director (Jason Wilcox), I have to be honest, 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 said.
Martinez felt United had made progress last season and had “created the base to create an amazing team.” However, he believes the club failed to take the next step.
United spent around £140 million ($185 million) during the summer transfer window. The club signed midfielders Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.
However, many supporters were unhappy that United did not strengthen other positions, particularly at left back and striker.
Despite the poor results, Martinez defended Carrick and suggested that another managerial change would not solve the club’s problems.
“You can’t keep changing, changing, changing the manager. What about other areas? I can’t say more,” he said.
“Tonight it is easy to say the coach (is to blame), easy to say the players, but also we have to see other areas.”
United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe watched the defeat from the stands in Madrid.
Carrick later said he had not heard Martinez’s comments and could not judge them without knowing exactly what the defender had said.
“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,” the United manager said.
Former United striker Wayne Rooney, however, felt Martinez had gone too far by publicly questioning the club’s leadership.
“I think he’s maybe gone a bit too far, and that should have stayed internal,” Rooney told Amazon Prime.
“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.”
United now face growing pressure to improve their results, while Martinez’s comments have brought fresh attention to the decisions being made away from the pitch.
With Carrick struggling to turn things around, the club must also deal with questions from inside its own dressing room about the direction of the team.
