Lisandro Martinez blasts Man Utd hierarchy in epic rant after Atletico Madrid defeat | Football

Lisandro Martinez has blasted the Manchester United hierarchy, singling out Technical Director Jason Wilcox for not bringing in more players over the summer transfer window.

The Red Devils were beaten 2-0 at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with a goal in the opening minute from Pablo Barrios and a late second from Ademola Lookman after Leny Yoro was shown a straight red card.

United have been in bad form so far this season but seemed to be slightly improved in the Spanish capital, despite the loss.

However, Martinez went on a memorable rant against the club’s decision-makers, feeling that the players have been let down by the recruitment team.

On the side’s performance against Atleti, the Argentina international told Amazon Prime: ‘Really poor. I have to control myself a lot but sometimes it’s the reflection, the mirror of how are club is at the moment.

‘We had a fantastic season last season and now we expect more from the top, from up, to bring more players to compete, because many teams bring many players as well. Today Atletico have an amazing team and deserve to win today.

‘I expect more. I expect more from our technical director, but I have to be honest we as players have to do more, but it’s important that we make a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night.

‘Last season we did everything to create a base to build an amazing base, but this is something to be honest and to prove something. It’s annoying, disappointing, to come here and I’m not seeing my team trying to get an amazing result here, it’s disappointing.’

It was suggested to Martinez that it is manager Michael Carrick that will face the majority of the criticism after another defeat, but the World Cup winner said he doesn’t necessarily deserve it, despite offering a warning.

‘I don’t think so. He does his best,’ he said. ‘But every season is different, you can’t say what you did last season. Teams know how you play, every details, if you don’t change next season, it’s a big problem.’

There was another pop at the hierarchy as Martinez suggested it is not the manager that should be changed, if anything is.

‘Changing, changing, changing managers, but what about other areas? I can’t say more,’ he said.

‘Tonight it’s easy to say the coach, it’s easy to say the players but also we have to say other areas.’

Carrick was asked about the comments, saying: ‘I think after a game like this, you come here to get something out of the game and we’re disappointed. Sometimes it can be a bit emotional.

‘I’ve not seen it so now’s not the right time for me to speak about it.’

United did make signings over the summer, focusing on their midfield where they brought in Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos as their three major arrivals.

All three started on Tuesday, with Baleba looking especially impressive, but the Red Devils were short at the back, with Ayden Heaven filling in at left-back with Luke Shaw out.

The defeat in Spain makes it five games without a win for Manchester United after defeats to Manchester City, Brighton and now Atletico Madrid, with draws against Fulham and Tottenham in that winless run.

Carrick said of his team’s display: ‘Bit mixed. It is a tough enough place to come and to get the start we had obviously puts us in a difficult situation but I thought we grew into the game.

‘We started having some control in the second half without having real threat. Then there was Bruno’s chance and then the red card, which I felt was a poor decision.’

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