Man Utd defender Martinez issues scathing attack on board

Key points

• Lisandro Martinez criticized Manchester United's board for not strengthening the squad after Champions League qualification.
• United have gone five games without a win, with their last victory on 10 September against Sabah FK.
• Former players Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young said Martinez's comments could divide the dressing room.

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has launched a scathing attack on the club's hierarchy for failing to strengthen the squad after they qualified for the Champions League. His comments came after United's 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, a result that extended their winless run to five games.

United finished third in the Premier League last season to secure a Champions League return for the first time in three years. They spent £155m on three midfielders in the summer but did not sign a striker to support Benjamin Sesko or a left-back to compete with Luke Shaw.

What Martinez said

Martinez told Amazon Prime Video that United needed more investment and more players to compete. "We did a fantastic season last season and now we expect more from the top, more players to compete because many teams bring many players as well," he said. He added that he expected more from technical director Jason Wilcox and that it was easy to blame the coach or players but other areas also had to be examined.

The defender also said that constantly changing managers was not the answer. "You can't keep changing, changing, changing the manager," he said. "What about other areas? I can't say more."

We did a fantastic season last season and now we expect more from the top, more players to compete because many teams bring many players as well

— Lisandro Martinez

Reaction to the comments

Former United players Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young, who were in Madrid for the game, said on Amazon Prime that Martinez had gone too far. "Something like that will rip that dressing room apart," Rooney said. He called the comments disrespectful to Martinez's teammates and said only Bruno Fernandes had the right to say such things.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson said he understood Martinez's point but questioned his timing. "I question his timing because with the noise around Manchester United at the moment, positivity needs to come out of the dressing room," Robinson said. "But on the flip side, I actually quite like it - a player being honest."