Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was sitting next to Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada in the Metropolitano Stadium on Tuesday.

They have sacked managers in the past two seasons after backing them the previous summer, with Erik ten Hag dismissed in October 2024, before Ruben Amorim was shown the exit door in January 2026.

Lisandro Martinez threw his support behind current manager Michael Carrick last night, instead turning the spotlight on the work done by the club's directors in the transfer market.

"You can't keep changing, changing, changing the manager," said Martinez. "What about other areas? I can't say more.

"Last season we did everything, we created the base to create an amazing team."

Martinez's comments echo similar ones made by his Argentina defensive partner Cristian Romero against the Tottenham board last season.

Ironically, Romero was in Atletico's side against United after his summer move to Spain.

Martinez, meanwhile, has one year left on his United contract and has yet to agree an extension.

You'd imagine Jason Wilcox will be feeling rather sheepish this morning.

Lisandro Martinez's comments may have been generally about the lack of investment last summer, but he was direct when he said "I expect more from our technical director".

The irony is that Wilcox was appointed United's technical director in 2024, but was promoted to director of football after a reshuffle when Dan Ashworth left the club.

So, what does Wilcox do? Simply, he's in charge of football operations, making calls on everything from the first team to the academy, transfers to pre-season tours.

He's certainly not the only voice involved in transfer dealings, with CEO Omar Berrada and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell both influential voices.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher 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.

Martinez has played in seven of Manchester United's nine matches this season, scoring in their 4-0 win over Sabah in the Champions League in September, their only clean sheet in the games he has featured.

United looked set to shut out Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday, but Martinez failed to stop Spurs striker Dominc Solanke heading home a stoppage-time equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

"It doesn't do anybody any good at all, and they will be the story now for the next few days all about this," Carragher said about Martinez's comments.

"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."

The question is, even if a player has frustrations with a club's transfer strategy and the level of competition for places in the squad, should they ever voice those concerns publicly, or is it best to keep them in house?

The instant reaction from former players last night would suggest Lisandro Martinez would have been better to voice his concerns in the dressing room...

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"This summer's going to be big", Harry Maguire told BBC Sport back in April.

The defender had just signed a one-year contract extension with the club, with the option for a further year, and thought that business was just the start of a busy summer window.

"I feel like the squad is starting to look strong," he said.

"But this summer's going to be big. Really big. We need more players. We need better quality. We need players to come into the starting eleven.

"We're not in Europe this year. We've played 40 games. We definitely need a bigger squad."

And if that happens?

"I don't think there's any ceiling on it," he said.

"We've got to be in the conversation to go and win the big trophies. Come February and March, we don't want to be adrift like we have been this year.

"Football is about memories. You can create memories by having iconic matches and scoring goals, but the bottom line is you get memories from winning big trophies."

Read the full piece here

Simon Stone talked about Lisandro Martinez's comments being echoed by "some inside Old Trafford".

The issue could be that Manchester United's summer spending - on three midfielders - did not tally with expectations, as the club looked ahead to a season in the Champions League.

Senior defender Harry Maguire certainly expected a "big" summer in the transfer market when he spoke with BBC Sport back in April...

Manchester United's summer transfer window focused on a total midfield reconstruction under Michael Carrick, finalising their business with an overall spend of £148m in initial fees.

Contrary to previous years, United were unusually measured, finishing completely outside the top tier of big spenders and actually spending less than newly-promoted Ipswich Town.

The summer signings included:

• Carlos Baleba - £65m
• Andrey Santos - £48m
• Youri Tielemans - £35m

Total: £148m

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter

Lisandro Martinez's view has been echoed by many external observers and has also been mentioned by some inside Old Trafford.

The failure to bring in striking support for Benjamin Sesko and competition at left-back for Luke Shaw have both been highlighted in a summer when United spent £155m on three midfielders to the exclusion of any other position.

One response from inside the Manchester United dressing room has been widely reported.

United attacker Amad Diallo posted on his Snapchat story after the game, although it is unclear exactly what he was referring to.

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As mentioned earlier, former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney was very vocal in his criticism of Lisandro Martinez's comments, saying it would have a negative impact in the dressing room.

Rooney recalled his own public criticism of Manchester United in 2010, which drew a fierce response from boss Sir Alex Ferguson at the time.

The ex-England striker said it had been a mistake, which he had apologised for, and believed Martinez was also wrong to make his comments.

"Something like that will rip that dressing room apart," he told broadcaster Amazon Prime.

"It is disrespectful to his team-mates. He is saying his team-mates aren't good enough.

"[Captain] Bruno [Fernandes] is the only one with any right to say that. Behind closed doors, it happens - but that interview isn't going to help...

"[Martinez] has tried to speak on behalf of the players but done it the wrong way.

"It looks like a player trying to look after himself. It was very premeditated. It is sad because you need everyone to stick together, you need to be as one."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter

There is no doubt that Manchester United have struggled to build on their fine finish to last season, with a string of poor results to kick off the current campaign.

Tuesday's 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid means United have now gone five games without a win.

Their most recent victory was against Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK in the Champions League on 10 September.

United's only other win in nine matches this season came against newly promoted Ipswich at Old Trafford, when they had to come from behind.

The Red Devils finished third in the Premier League last term to seal a Champions League return for the first time in three years.

They won 12 of Michael Carrick's 17 games in interim charge following the dismissal of Ruben Amorim in January, which was enough to earn the former United midfielder a permanent two-year contract as head coach.

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Lisandro Martinez's comments were made after a difficult start to the season for Manchester United, as BBC Sport's chief football news reporter Simon Stones explains...

Manchester United fan Jay Motty says "it's not looking good for the team or the manager" after yesterday's defeat and he questions whether it was the right time for Lisandro Martinez to criticise the club's hierachy.

Watch the full clip below.

Plenty of former players have had their say, with the majority coming out against Lisandro Martinez's comments.

We will go through those reactions next, but what do you think?

Take the poll below and get in touch with your comments via the 'Get Involved' button...

Here's a reminder of what Lisandro Martinez said:

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

"Atletico have an amazing team and they deserved to win today.

"I expect more [investment]. 100%. I expect more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox].

"I have to be honest, as players we have to do more but it is also important when you make a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night.

"Tonight it is easy to [blame] the coach, easy to say the players but also we have to see other areas."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United actually did well to recover from conceding in the opening minute and managed to create a series of decent chances to equalise.

But they failed to make the most of those chances, with nine shots on goal and only four on target.

Alan Shearer, as a pundit for broadcaster Amazon Prime, felt they put in an improved performance, when compared to the weekend draw at home to Tottenham, but were "wasteful" in the final third.

Crumbs of comfort, maybe, but no-one was quite prepared for Lisandro Martinez's scathing post-match comments...

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United's poor run of results continued as they fell to a Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid after conceding inside the first minute.

Although head coach Michael Carrick could reflect on a much-improved performance after making five changes to his starting line-up, United have now gone five games without a win.

The visitors never recovered after Alex Baena raced beyond Diogo Dalot on to a routine ball over the United defence in the opening minute, before squaring for the excellent Pablo Barrios, whose shot squirmed under Ayden Heaven and into the net.

Bryan Mbeumo wasted two good chances to level before the break while Marcus Rashford failed to make contact with Lisandro Martinez's pass.

After the interval, skipper Bruno Fernandes came closest when he lifted Youri Tielemans' lofted pass over Atletico keeper Jan Oblak but it dropped off target.

The hosts did have chances themselves, with Alejandro Grimaldo clipping a free-kick against the post before Julian Alvarez, making his second start of the season, failed to make the most of an opportunity created by Barrios.

United's final hope of an equaliser disappeared when Leny Yoro was sent off for tangling with substitute Jonathan David when the France defender was the last man.

Former Everton striker Ademola Lookman sealed the hosts' victory in the 79th minute as United became the first English side to lose in the Champions League this season.