Jamie Carragher has challenged Lisandro Martinez’s assessment that Manchester United enjoyed a “fantastic” campaign last season, describing it as a “myth”.
Martinez made the claim in his explosive comments that followed his side’s Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid, which he has since apologised for.
The Argentina defender felt that Manchester United did not invest as they should have done having finished third in the Premier League last year following the arrival of Michael Carrick as manager.
But Carragher disagrees with Martinez’s claim, and believes Manchester United’s failure to recognise their status has been part of the problem.
“The more you listen to Martínez’s argument, the less it stands up to scrutiny,” Carragher wrote in his Telegraph column.
“‘We did a fantastic season last season and now we expect more from the top,” he said, perpetuating a myth which is doing United more harm than good. In what world does United sacking a manager, losing to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup and going out early in the FA Cup qualify as ‘fantastic’?
“United finished so high in the Premier League because Liverpool and Chelsea were awful and they could benefit from the lack of European football after being historically bad in 2025. Anyone who seriously believed they came into this season as the third-best team in England, or on the threshold of a title challenge with a couple more additions, is suffering serious delusion symptoms.
“Michael Carrick steadied the ship as interim, but it was entirely predictable that a young, inexperienced coach would find it more challenging under the weight of competing in the Premier League and Champions League.”
Manchester United sit 13th in the Premier League having won just one of their first six games.