There’s never a dull moment at Manchester United, is there?
At least Lisandro Martinez shifted the attention away from the club’s latest poor result, this time at the hands of Atletico Madrid, with the Argentine directing his anger toward the Old Trafford hierarchy post-match.
They were comments fuelled by emotion and anger, with the World Cup winner publicly voicing what many of a United persuasion have been thinking of late. But should he have done?
What did Lisandro Martinez say after Atletico?
Having conceded after one minute and then 90 minutes on Tuesday, it was actually a largely positive performance in between for Michael Carrick’s men, with the Red Devils creating a stream of gilt-edged chances on the night.
The controversial dismissal of Leny Yoro hadn’t aided matters, with it looking like the Frenchman’s red card would dominate the post-match post-mortem.
And then came Martinez.
The fiery 28-year-old didn’t hold back in his scathing criticism of the United board, suggesting that the lack of investment over the summer had proven a key factor in the decline this season.
A certain Jason Wilcox was seemingly in the crosshairs, the Englishman having only strengthened the midfield unit, a decision that has already backfired amid injuries to the likes of Luke Shaw and Benjamin Sesko.
“I expected more from our technical director… [Carrick] does his best… You can keep changing, changing, changing the manager, but what about other areas? I can’t say more. It’s easy to say the coach. It’s easy to say the players, but we also have to ‘see’ others [who are to blame].”
Martinez has the right to be demanding and critical, but the merits of putting such statements out publicly have to be debated.
Why Martinez’s outburst doesn’t help anyone
The centre-back’s comments align with the view of many among the Old Trafford faithful, but that’s not to say he has made the correct move, with it surely better to keep such anger in-house.
This will only add fuel to the fire at a time of crisis in Manchester, an unwise tactic that may win Martinez some plaudits but does little to actually benefit Manchester United.
Look to Ralf Rangnick or Ruben Amorim, two men who were lauded for their honesty, yet neither actually aided United on the pitch.
In Martinez’s case too, it wasn’t Wilcox who lost out to Dominic Solanke at the weekend. It wasn’t Wilcox who prodded into his own net against Fulham. It wasn’t Wilcox who turned into trouble against Ipswich Town.
Yes, Carrick deserved greater backing, but this group of players, many of whom have been here under a succession of managers now, need to take accountability themselves. Martinez included.
Alas, the former Ajax man will have given the headline writers something to obsess over in the coming days, ensuring the actual action on the pitch becomes a little forgotten.
Because of Martinez: No one is talking about struggling Man Utd star
As noted above, there were actually reasons to be positive about Carrick’s new-look lineup, and had it not been for Bryan Mbeumo’s wayward finishing, or the woodwork, then the visitors could well have walked away with all three points.
Mbeumo did at least look sharp in moments, fresh from having scored against Spurs, with a bigger concern likely to be the continued woes of Senne Lammens in the sticks.
Let’s face it, the young Belgian doesn’t appear to have recovered from his key mistake for his country at the World Cup, having been bizarrely shaky in the early weeks of the campaign.
|
Man Utd Player Ratings |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Rating |
|
GK – Lammens |
5 |
|
RB – Dalot |
6 |
|
CB – Yoro |
6 |
|
CB – Martinez |
6 |
|
LB – Heaven |
5 |
|
CM – Santos |
5 |
|
CM – Baleba |
6 |
|
RM – Fernandes |
6 |
|
AM – Tielemans |
6 |
|
LM – Rashford |
3 |
|
ST – Mbeumo |
5 |
Indeed, Lammens was notably caught in no man’s land amid Martinez’s mistake against Ipswich, having also failed to keep out Tyrique George’s near-post strike in the draw away at Everton.
A more obvious error was his inability to prevent Martinez’s errant touch from heading in at Craven Cottage, while the 23-year-old was also all at sea against Spurs, gifting a chance to Solanke in the early exchanges.
He had been such a refreshing figure of calm last season, a stark contrast to the hapless Andre Onana, yet Lammens is frequently proving a problem right now, left looking so uncertain in possession, in particular.
The ex-Royal Antwerp man could arguably do little about Atleti’s opener on Tuesday, but he was seemingly at fault for the second, palming the ball straight into the path of Ademola Lookman.
On the ball too, he lost possession on nine occasions from his 36 touches, while also finding a teammate with just two of his 11 attempted long balls, recording a 63% pass accuracy rate in total.
The woes of those ahead of him aren’t helping, but Lammens just isn’t exuding the quiet calm that he was during his debut campaign, having arguably been United’s standout player behind Bruno Fernandes.
Such initial highs have ensured he has plenty of credit in the bank, and rightly so, yet that doesn’t mean his errant form should go overlooked.
The only issue, of course, is that there isn’t exactly a stellar option in reserve, with Karl Darlow certainly not helping his cause following a dismal debut against Brighton and Hove Albion.
Perhaps Martinez had a point after all about recruitment…
