Jamie Carragher and Wayne Rooney have criticised Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez for his outburst following Tuesday’s loss to Atlético Madrid.
The Argentinian sparked controversy in the wake of United’s 2-0 Champions League defeat in the Spanish capital as he questioned the club’s hierarchy.
Martínez reserved particular venom for technical director Jason Wilcox, accusing him of failing to adequately strengthen the squad.
Carragher slams Martínez
After the game, former Liverpool defender Carragher said on Sky Sports regarding the outburst: “It doesn’t do anybody any good at all, and they will be the story now for the next few days.
“Every set of supporters doesn’t like the suits or the guys upstairs, so United fans will lap this up and think it’s great.
“I think it’s awful that he’s come out and said that right now. I do.
“And when he’s saying, ‘we had a fantastic season last season’ – they didn’t. A manager [Ruben Amorim] got sacked last season. Sacked.
“They finished third because they had no cup games. They got knocked out of the cup competitions very early. The reason they finished third is Liverpool and Chelsea were that bad as well.
“Now, we’re seeing the real Manchester United this season. They were awful again [against Atlético].
“And him as well. I think he’s a good player, by the way – he’s a World Cup winner, I get that. He’s had an awful start to the season. Awful. Really poor.
“Yeah, people are lapping it up. Manchester United fans will. That does nobody any good at all.”
Rooney issues warning
Meanwhile, ex-United forward Rooney told Amazon Prime: “It’s a difficult one because I always used to think I was outspoken as a player and you want to have your opinion.
“I think he has maybe gone a bit too far. That’s for the manager and that should really stay internal.
“The fans want to hear the players speak, they want to hear the players care – you can clearly see he cares and he wants the team to invest more money and more players.
“He is probably one of the players who is out the door through his performances. His performances haven’t been good enough.
“But I think in some ways he is right in terms of the club needing to invest more at the top end of the pitch and in defence as well.
“It’s a bit disrespectful to his team-mates as well. He is disrespecting his team-mates because he’s saying the team isn’t good enough.
“Bruno [Fernandes] is the only one who has any right to come out and say anything like that as captain, and even then it should be behind closed doors if there are issues, which does happen.
“Players have conversations with the manager, the manager has conversations with the board – but that interview is not going to help the situation the club are in at the minute.
“That’s going to bring a greater noise around it. The players are not happy, they’re not settled, they don’t trust in their team-mates. That’s not going to help at all.”
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