Manchester United center back Lisandro Martínez unloaded against the club’s board and especially the club’s director of football Jason Wilcox for their 2026 summer transfer window business in a spectacular rant following Tuesday’s 2–0 Champions League defeat against Atlético Madrid.
After a stellar second half of 2025–26 that resulted in United removing the interim tag from Michael Carrick’s job title and appointing him as permanent manager, the Red Devils have started 2026–27 with just two wins in nine games. After the match against Atlético, a visibly enraged Martínez took aim at United’s hierarchy.
“Really poor,” Martínez told Amazon Prime Sport after the match. “Really poor. I have to control myself a lot but sometimes is a reflection of the mirror of how is our club at the moment. 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. Atletico have an amazing team and they deserve to win today.”
When asked if he expected more investment in reinforcing United’s squad over the summer, Martínez gave a vicious, brutally honest response.
“[I expected more] yeah, 100%,” the Argentine confessed. “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 this kind of night.”
Martínez didn’t specify which areas he would’ve liked the club to add more reinforcements, but did say that, “Last season we did everything, we created the base to create an amazing team. It is annoying, disappointing coming here and I am not seeing my team trying to get an amazing result here.”
Lisandro Martinez Takes Michael Carrick Stance
The dreadful start of the season has firmly placed Carrick on the hot seat just two months into the campaign. However, Martínez believes that replacing the manager isn’t the answer, and hinted at others on Man Utd’s board as the people that should face the consequences in the event anyone gets replaced.
“I don't think so,” Martínez said when asked about Carrick. “He does his best. Every season is different. You can’t stay with what you did last season. The teams knows how you play, they know every detail, if you don’t change next season is a big problem.
“You can’t keep changing, changing, changing the manager. What about other areas? I can’t say more.” But he did say more. “Tonight it is easy to say the coach, easy to say the players but also we have to see other areas,” Martínez said pointing up, seemingly referencing United’s higher-ups.
Soon after, Carrick also spoke to Amazon Prime Sport and admitted he hadn’t heard Martínez’s comments before briefly addressing the situation.
“I think after a game like this you come here to trying and get something out of the game and we’re disappointed,” Carrick said. “Sometimes you can be a little bit emotional as well. I have not seen it so I don’t think now is the right time for me to comment on it.
Carrick added: “I fully know we all care and we show that in different ways. But now is certainly the time to be together and work through it. We got a big a big game now Sunday and we’ve got to prepare for that properly.”
Analyzing Man Utd’s 2026 Summer Transfer Business—Is Martinez Right?
Manchester United completed four first-team signings during the summer window while also welcoming back Marcus Rashford after 18 months on loan. The bulk of United’s transfer window efforts centered around rebuilding the midfield, spending $207.2 million (£155 million) on midfielders Andrey Santos, Carlos Baleba and Youri Tielemans.
The trio of midfielders started for the first time together in the defeat against Atléti. Although it wasn’t a dominant display, there was overall improvement in the middle of the park. The problem is that United failed to address other areas of need.
Backup goalkeeper Karl Darlow was the only other reinforcement United secured this summer, completely ignoring glaring holes in both defense and attack.
The Red Devils targeted a left back all summer, namely Lewis Hall, but failed to acquire a new defender. Starting left back Luke Shaw has already missed time through injury, and 20-year-old center back Ayden Heaven started covering the left flank against Atléti.
Up front, United were closer to unloading Benjamin Šeško’s backup Joshua Zirkzee than signing another solid alternative at center forward. Šeško is now injured yet Zirkzee hasn’t started a game all season and both Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha are better operating as second strikers than spearheading the attack.
Overall, though, the lack of investment becomes glaring when looking at United’s depth. That issue was masked last season due to United playing only Premier League matches since Carrick took over in January. Now that there’s Champions League soccer on the schedule plus domestic cup competitions, United’s lack of quality depth has already been exposed.
“We have a plan, we know what we can invest, and we have to stick to that,” Man Utd CEO Omar Berrada said regarding the club’s strategy during the summer transfer window. So far, that plan appears to have been insufficient.
Whether Carrick can turn around United’s nightmare start of the season with what he has available remains to be seen, but he better do it quickly because his job depends on it—regardless of what Martínez or any other player might want.
Add us as a preferred source on Google