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Lisandro Martínez put Manchester United on blast following a 2-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League.
Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez launched an extraordinary attack on the club's hierarchy following a 2-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, saying that the club didn't do enough in the summer to keep up with its rivals.
United fell 2-0 in Madrid on Tuesday, Oct. 13, the latest poor result in a run that has seen the club win just one of seven games.
The pressure is growing on United manager Michael Carrick but Martínez instead pointed the finger at technical director Jason Wilcox.
"Really poor. Really poor," Martínez told Prime Video after the game in Madrid. "I have to control myself a lot, but sometimes it is a reflection of the mirror of how is our club at the moment.
"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.
"Atlético have an amazing team and they deserve to win today.
"But I expect more (investment). 100%. I expect more from our technical director (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."
United made four first-team signings during the summer: midfielders Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos, as well as reserve goalkeeper Karl Darlow.
Martínez was asked about the pressure on Carrick, who was appointed as the permanent manager in the summer after leading United to a third-place finish last season as an interim.
"(Carrick) does his best," the Argentina international said. "Every season is different. You can't stay with what you did last season.
"The teams knows how you play, they know every detail, if you don't change, next season is a big problem.
"You can't keep changing, changing, changing the manager," Martínez said. "What about other areas? I can't say more.
"Tonight it is easy to say the coach, easy to say the players but also we have to see other areas (points up)."
Martínez would later give another interview to CBS Sports, and he echoed some of the same talking points.
"We have many games and we have to rotate players and for me we don’t have the best squad at the moment compared with other top teams," Martínez said.
"But also as a club I expect more," he added. "I’m not going to close my mouth. We need more ambition. We need to talk more about winning Champions Leagues and the Premier League."
Carrick was asked about Martínez's comments after the game and said he couldn't comment because he hadn't seen the interview.
United's most recent Premier League title came in 2012-13, the last season of Sir Alex Ferguson's legendary tenure as manager. Its most recent Champions League title was in 2007-08.