Mart\u00ednez hits out at Man Utd chief Wilcox after Atl\u00e9tico defeat
Lisandro Martínez has publicly criticised Manchester United's director of football Jason Wilcox after the 2-0 Champions League defeat at Atlético Madrid.
The Argentina centre-back, a central defender, said he expects more from Wilcox, according to The Guardian. It was blunt. And it was public.
United ended the night with ten men in Madrid on 13 October in Europe's top club competition. Martínez said afterwards the defeat "reflects how our club is", as reported by Reuters. The loss left United with only two wins all season.
His view that Wilcox is failing is understood to reflect wider frustration in the dressing room. The complaint centres on recruitment and squad depth rather than one bad night in Spain.
Wilcox is the executive in charge of transfers at Old Trafford. He oversaw a £155m outlay in the last transfer window on Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba.
United also wanted a left-back in that window. Newcastle's Lewis Hall was the prime target, but the club did not strengthen the position.
That has left Luke Shaw as the only senior left-back in the squad. Shaw missed both the defeat in Madrid and the 1-1 draw with Tottenham with a muscular problem.
The league form is poor. United took six points from their first six Premier League matches, the club's poorest league start for 40 years.
They are already out of the Carabao Cup, England's league cup, after a defeat by Brighton when the team showed eight changes. That exit followed a run that has kept pressure on the manager and the hierarchy.
Michael Carrick took over as caretaker in mid-January last season and led United to third. He was then appointed permanent manager in May, an appointment recommended by Wilcox and signed off by the owners including Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Martínez is out of contract next summer. His outburst about the hierarchy is regarded as a push by the defender to secure a move.
He is said to favour a move to an elite European club outside the Premier League. No transfer has been agreed, and United have not commented publicly on his remarks.
For supporters, this is what makes the story linger. Players rarely name a director by name. When they do, it tells you the mood has moved beyond the usual talk of bouncing back.
