Lisandro Martinez to learn Manchester United’s response to controversial outburst

Manchester United chiefs have been mulling over the explosive comments from Lisandro Martinez, with the player to learn of their response on Thursday.

The Red Devils were beaten 2-0 by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night in Spain, continuing their poor run of results.

Six games into the Premier League campaign Michael Carrick’s side has won just once and the loss in Madrid makes it five matches without a victory in all competitions.

Martinez faced reporters after the latest defeat and chose to drop a bombshell as he hit out at the club’s hierarchy, specifically Jason Wilcox, the former Technical Director who is now Director of Football.

The Argentina international was raging about the lack of new signings over the summer, feeling the squad is not strong enough to compete for the biggest titles.

‘I have to control myself a lot but sometimes it’s the reflection, the mirror of how are club is at the moment,’ Martinez told Amazon on United’s performance in Madrid.

‘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.’

Martinez said it was not his teammates or his manager that deserve criticism, but ‘other areas’ of the club.

‘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.’

ESPN report that senior figures at Old Trafford have been discussing the defender’s comments on Wednesday, when the players had a day off.

Martinez and his teammates will return to training on Thursday and the Argentine will learn his fate then, in terms of whether he will face punishment or not.

Carrick had not seen or heard the interview by the time of his post-match press conference on Wednesday, saying: ‘I’ll need to find out a bit more about it before I can say if and what is going to be done.’

The manager added, ahead of a trip to Elland Road to play Leeds on Sunday: ‘It’s important for us to move forward quickly, really, its a big game on Sunday and it’s really important that we move forward and stay focused on that. There’s disappointment with in the group, I’m bitterly disappointed in certain things and the boys are as well as a group of players.

‘As a group I don’t doubt the togetherness or wanting to win or the willingness to do things to win, I really don’t doubt that.

‘I know results-wise it’s easy to look and think there’s something deeply wrong because we haven’t won enough games, but the players have been great.

‘They want to push, they’re very willing, they’re very disappointed we haven’t come out with something from the game because they’re desperate and we could have and maybe should have.’

United legend Wayne Rooney suggested Martinez could and probably should face punishment from his club for his outburst.

‘I think it is very disrespectful, there are a lot of young players in that dressing room looking for some guidance from experienced players and that hasn’t helped,’ said the former striker.

‘The board have to look at that and probably have to take some action on that because that’s disrespecting the whole football club.’