Manchester United suffering a disappointing night in Europe is not unprecedented. What happened afterwards is.

“I expect more from our technical director,” Lisandro Martínez said in an extraordinary interview with Amazon Prime, following a 2-0 Champions League defeat by Atlético Madrid.

Martínez then doubled down on his comments in subsequent interviews, showing they were planned and not just an outburst. And with that the spotlight was turned straight at the technical director (his title now is actually director of football) – Jason Wilcox – but also at the running of the club. From within their own dressing room.

Martínez’s comments may be self-serving – the 28-year-old’s current contract runs out at the end of this season, with United having the option to extend for 12 months – and may even have been intended to deflect away from his own poor form. There have been suggestions United have serious doubts about the Argentinian, who has been asking for an improved new deal for quite some time.

The chances of him getting that contract would now appear to be more remote. If he is going, though, he is intending to land some punches on his way out, even if he is already known as someone who will speak his mind.

It was Martinez, let us not forget, who was at fault for Dominic Solanke’s late equalising goal for Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford last weekend. It was not Wilcox. And by asking for more signings, presumably Martinez was not talking about someone to take his own place.

In declaring United have not done enough in the transfer market, have not bought enough – or good enough – players, Martinez may also have blown that dressing room apart. Some team-mates will agree with him. Others will be angered that he is talking about them.

Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw also asked for the squad to be strengthened. But that was in the summer and neither of them went for Wilcox.

Last year, Bruno Fernandes lashed out and, talking about his failed £100m move to the Saudi-Pro League, claimed that “money is more important that anything” to the people now running United.

Going further back, Wayne Rooney took aim at the club in 2010 over signings. But he did not name an individual. There was Roy Keane turning on his team-mates and the “prawn sandwich” fans. But not an executive.

There were also echoes of what Martinez’s international team-mate Cristian Romero said about the Tottenham Hotspur board last summer. Ironically, of course, Romero is now in the Atletico side that extended United’s run of matches without a win to five.

But Martinez went further. Far further. “I expect more [investment], 100 per cent,” he said. “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.”

Those areas – clearly – are the way the club operates and the work and approach of its hierarchy. Martinez targeted Wilcox, but Wilcox does not operate alone. The focus is also on chief executive Omar Berrada and the Ineos ownership of Sir Jim Ratcliffe (who watched from his seat at the Metropolitano Stadium) and the Glazer family.

By saying what he said, Martinez will earn huge support from United’s increasingly unhappy fans – who have been remarkably patient up until this point in the largely dismal post-Sir Alex Ferguson era – and it could have profound effects.

Martinez will surely face some immediate consequences. He was evidently trying to support head coach Michael Carrick, arguing he has not been sufficiently backed. But it would be a surprise after his outburst to see Martinez in the team for Sunday’s vital Premier League game away to Leeds United.

United’s transfer strategy does require scrutiny. Not just the perceived lack of spending, even if there are reasons behind that, but a very deliberate and unusual policy of revamping areas of the team one at a time. Last year it was the attack, this summer it was the midfield and next year, presumably, it will be the defence.

United are cutting their cloth accordingly. But what is the point of having a tailored jacket if your trousers are falling apart?

It does seem to be a singular approach and one which, actually, the club could help itself with by putting Wilcox up for interview to explain why. Failing to sign a left-back, after showing interest in Lewis Hall, does appear particularly unfathomable even if they still have Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu on their books.

Fans have latched onto the fact that while United did buy three midfielders, for a combined cost of £155m, they missed out on the likes of Elliot Anderson, Matheus Fernandes and Aurelien Tchouameni. While the club will argue those deals became too expensive and they walked away – as they have failed to do in the past – it is not what the supporters want to hear.

United have paid the price for overpaying in recent years, with a series of deals that did not work out. There is also the reality that other clubs have financial might, that financial controls must be adhered to and – most of all – that two decades of the Glazers and being trapped in their ownership debt have hit hard.

How much of that can be laid at Wilcox’s door? In truth, not a lot. He is working under restrictions that are far tighter and he is not in overall control of spending.

Wilcox does not appear to be under pressure from within. His relationship with Berrada goes back to their Manchester City days and there is no suggestion that Ratcliffe is displeased with his work. Ratcliffe effectively chose Wilcox over Dan Ashworth, after the latter’s abrupt departure early last year.

But it is, at the very least, uncomfortable for him, and by extension the other suits, to be called out. Not by the fans, not by the media or pundits, but from the heart of the club. From within the dressing room. And that should be addressed. One of their own players has demanded that.