Lisandro Martinez: Jamie Carragher says Man Utd defender's comments criticising hierarchy are awful as Wayne Rooney brands them disrespectful

Jamie Carragher has branded Lisandro Martinez's comments criticising the Manchester United hierarchy as "awful" - saying the player should look at himself because of his "really poor" start to the season.

In an astonishing post-match interview after United's 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid with 10 men, defender Martinez launched an extraordinary attack on the club chiefs, critisicing the lack of summer investment in the squad.

Martinez - who is out of contract at the end of the season - said he expected more from "upstairs", singling out technical director Jason Wilcox, in the most recent transfer window in which they failed to improve their options at left-back and up front.

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And responding to those comments, Sky Sports pundit Carragher told CBS Sports: "It doesn't do anybody any good at all, and they will be the story now for the next few days all about this.

"Every set of supporters don't like the suits or the guys upstairs, so United fans will lap this up and think it's great. I think it's awful that he's come out and said that right now. I do.

"And when he's saying 'we had a fantastic season last season', they didn't. A manager got sacked last season. Sacked.

"They finished third because they had no cup games. They got knocked out of the cup competitions very early. The reason they finished third is Liverpool and Chelsea were that bad as well.

"Now we're seeing the real Manchester United this season. They were awful again tonight.

"And him as well, when he's talking at the start of this season - I think he's a good player, by the way, he's a World Cup winner, I get that - he's had an awful start to the season. Awful. Really poor.

"And yeah, people are lapping it up, Manchester United fans will. That does nobody any good at all."

What Martinez said

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Man Utd spent £155m on just four major summer signings after a third-place Premier League finish last season, which earned a return to the Champions League for the first time in three years.

But Martinez is not happy with how the club navigated the summer.

"I have to control myself a lot, but sometimes it's a reflection of how our club is at the moment," Martinez told Amazon Prime.

"We had a fantastic season last season, and now we expect more from the top, from upstairs, to bring in more players to compete because many teams have brought in many players as well."

Asked whether he had expected more investment in the squad in summer, Martinez said: "Yes, 100 per cent.

"I expect more from our technical director. I have to be honest. And also, as a player, we have to do more.

"It's also important to build a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night."

Tuesday's loss in Madrid extended Man Utd's winless run to five games, piling pressure on boss Michael Carrick.

"He does his best," he said of Carrick. "But every season is different. You can't stay with what you did last season.

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"The teams know how you play, they know every detail. If you don't change, next season is a big problem."

Asked about Carrick's future, Martinez replied: "You start changing, changing, changing managers. But what about [moves his eyes upwards] other areas?"

Martinez looked up and then shrugged, saying, "I can't say more" before deciding to add a final dig.

"Because also tonight it is easy to say the coach, it is easy to say the players, but also we have to see other areas," he said, pointing up and nodding.

Rooney: Martinez has gone too far, his performances aren't good enough

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Martinez's comments also drew criticism from former Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney, who agreed with Carragher that the Argentina defender's performances have not been good enough to make such an outburst.

Rooney also feels Martinez's comments are disrespectful to the other United players.

"It's a difficult one because I always used to think I was outspoken as a player and you want to have your opinion," Rooney told Amazon Prime.

"I think he has maybe gone a bit too far. That's for the manager, and that should really stay internal.

"The fans want to hear the players speak; they want to hear the players care, so you can clearly see he cares and he wants the team to invest more money, and more players, and to do that he is probably one of the players who is out the door through his performances. His performances haven't been good enough.

"But I think in some ways he is right in terms of the club needs to invest more, at the top end of the pitch and in defence as well.

"But it looks like that was a bit of an agenda; he's wanted to say that, because that doesn't mirror the performance. I thought the performance was better.

"It's a bit disrespectful to his team-mates as well. He is disrespecting his team-mates because he's saying the team isn't good enough.

"Bruno (Fernandes) is the only one who has any right to come out and say anything like that as captain. And even then it should be behind closed doors if there are issues, which does happen.

"Players have conversations with the manager, the manager has conversations with the board, but that interview is not going to help the situation the club are in at the minute.

"That's going to bring a greater noise around it; the players are not happy, they're not settled, they don't trust in their team-mates. That's not going to help at all."

What is the makeup of the Man Utd hierarchy?

The Glazer Family & Sir Jim Ratcliffe [owners]: The Glazers retain majority ownership and corporate oversight, while Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS group are in charge of the day-to-day football operations and investments in the team.

Omar Berrada [CEO]: Poached from Man City in 2024, the Moroccan sits directly below the co-owners and serves as the bridge between the boardroom and football matters.

Jason Wilcox [Director of Football]: After hanging up his boots, the one-time Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United and England winger became academy director at Man City and Southampton, before joining United in April 2024.

However, when Dan Ashworth left Old Trafford in December 2024, Wilcox took on his role as sporting director, before being promoted to Director of Football after Sir Dave Brailsford's departure in June.

Christopher Vivell [Director of Recruitment]: Joined from Chelsea for the 2024-25 campaign having served as their technical director, the 39-year-old German was made the club's Director of Recruitment on a full-time basis in February 2025 where he manages scouting, data analytics and transfer shortlists, reporting to Wilcox.