^ ^ Michael Carrick urged to drop Man Utd star for Leeds clash after Atletico Madrid defeat

Manchester United boss Michael Carrick (Picture: Getty)

Michael Carrick has been urged to drop Lisandro Martinez for Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Leeds United following his explosive attack on the club’s board.

In an eye-opening interview following Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid, Martinez accused the Old Trafford hierarchy of letting the squad down with their failure to sign more players over the summer.

The Argentine World Cup winner said he expected more investment in the United squad and ‘more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox]’.

Manchester United spent over £150m on three midfielders – Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos – but failed to bolster Carrick’s squad in other areas of the pitch.

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Martinez’s comments received a mixed reception, with some praising his decision to publicly call out those above him and others suggesting the outburst will only increase the pressure on underperforming United.

The 28-year-old centre-back released a statement almost 24 hours after his viral interview in which he said he ‘spoke out of anger and frustration’, although he stopped short of an apology.

‘After the match, I spoke out of anger and frustration at not getting the result we all wanted,’ Martinez said.

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez (Picture: Getty)

‘Those who know me know how I live football, with passion, commitment and a huge desire to win. And when things don’t go our way, it hurts, especially when representing a club with the history and stature of Manchester United.

‘My words reflect how I feel and how much I want to see this club competing for the biggest honours. Those high standards are part of how I see football and the responsibility that comes with wearing this shirt.

‘When I talk about wanting more, I’m talking about the ambition we must all have as part of this club.

Lisandro Martínez did NOT hold back after United's loss to Atletico 😬👀 pic.twitter.com/OGo25Pzd30

— Prime Video Sport UK (@primevideosport) October 13, 2026

‘To keep growing, to become stronger and to have everything we need to compete at the highest level. These are standards we must all hold ourselves to, starting with me.

‘I know that, first and foremost, it’s us, the players, who have to deliver, and I put myself at the front of that responsibility.

‘We need to demand even more of ourselves and work together to take Manchester United back to the top.

Ex-Premier League striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Picture: Sky Sports)

‘I believe in my teammates, our manager and everyone working to help this club move forward. I’m convinced that the way forward is to keep working together, with ambition and commitment.

‘My goal has been the same since day one, to win, compete at the highest level and to give everything I have for this badge.’

Former Premier League striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink believes Martinez’s comments were ‘valid’ but says he still should not have made them publicly.

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As a result, Hasselbaink ‘expects’ Martinez to be dropped for Manchester United’s trip to Leeds on Sunday and ‘the next few matches’.

‘His points are valid but do I think he should say it? That’s a different story,’ the former Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Cardiff City and Atletico Madrid star told Sky Sports.

‘But his points are valid. I expect him to not play the next match or the next few matches, you cannot come out publicly and say what you said.’

Manchester United travel to Elland Road sitting just 13th in the Premier League, three points above the relegation zone.

Leeds, meanwhile, have enjoyed a bright start to the new season and sit seventh having gone five games unbeaten before a narrow defeat to reigning champions Arsenal last time out.

Manchester United drew 1-1 at Elland Road last season before a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford in the corresponding fixture.

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^ ^ Gary Neville predicts two Man Utd stars are ‘absolutely fuming’ with Lisandro Martinez

Gary Neville has a problem with what Lisandro Martinez said (Picture: Shutterstock)

Gary Neville has a problem with Lisandro Martinez’s controversial post-match interview and feels some of his Manchester United teammates will do as well.

The Red Devils centre-back made some explosive comments after the 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night in the Champions League.

Martinez hit out at the club’s hierarchy, specifically taking aim at Director of Football and former Technical Director Jason Wilcox, as he criticised a lack of signings over the summer.

The Argentina international suggested the squad was not good enough to compete for the Premier League and Champions League, feeling the players and manager have been let down by those above them.

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While Martinez was having a pop at the club’s decision-makers, Neville feels it was also an attack on his teammates, which is where he has an issue with the comments.

The former United defender expects the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire to have been left seething with their teammates’ words.

‘It’s devastating for the club,’ Neville said on Stick to Football. ‘This is the big problem I have with it. Wayne Rooney made a statement back in 2010 where he said that basically the club weren’t ambitious enough around signing players.

Lisandro Martínez did NOT hold back after United's loss to Atletico 😬👀 pic.twitter.com/OGo25Pzd30

— Prime Video Sport UK (@primevideosport) October 13, 2026

‘To me, that is a direct criticism of his teammates, saying that they’re not good enough because they should be signing more players. So, I’ve got a problem with it from a player’s perspective.

‘To be fair, me and Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] spoke with Wazza the morning after and he apologised to all the players and he apologised publicly because we said, “Why are we not good enough in the dressing room? Do you not think we’re good enough to win the league?”

‘That is a direct attack on the players that you’re playing with. So, when Martinez says they should have brought more players in, he’s directly attacking his teammates.

‘If I was a player this morning, if I was Bruno Fernandes and I was Harry Maguire and the other senior players, I’d be absolutely fuming with him because he’s basically saying that some of us shouldn’t be here and we should be bringing more players in.’

Bruno Fernandes has not spoken out on the comments as yet (Picture: Shutterstock)

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard suggested the opposite, that potentially a group of senior players have discussed the issue and that is why Martinez spoke out.

The specific nature of the defender calling out the ‘Technical Director’ suggested to Gerrard that it was an orchestrated move.

‘That tells me that the senior players are talking about it as a group,’ he said. ‘I just think it doesn’t help Michael [Carrick] on the eve of playing Leeds at the weekend. It’s all negative and tells me they’re not aligned as a club.

‘At the same time, sometimes a player comes and does an interview and it’s robotic and he just straight bats every question, we say they’re not honest enough, they’re boring.

‘I admire the fact he’s tried to be honest and open and he’s actually tried to protect Michael Carrick, in a way, but he’s made a bigger mess.’

Lisandro Martinez's bombshell comments

On the side’s performance against Atleti, Martinez told Amazon Prime: ‘Really poor. I have to control myself a lot but sometimes it’s the reflection, the mirror of how are club is at the moment.

‘We had a fantastic season last season and now we expect more from the top, from up, to bring more players to compete, because many teams bring many players as well. Today Atletico have an amazing team and deserve to win today.

‘I expect more. I expect more from our technical director, but I have to be honest we as players have to do more, but it’s important that we make a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night.

‘Last season we did everything to create a base to build an amazing base, but this is something to be honest and to prove something. It’s annoying, disappointing, to come here and I’m not seeing my team trying to get an amazing result here, it’s disappointing.’

Michael Carrick is under pressure after five games without a win (Picture: Getty Images)

On whether the manager deserves criticism, Martinez said: ‘I don’t think so. He does his best. But every season is different, you can’t say what you did last season. Teams know how you play, every details, if you don’t change next season, it’s a big problem.’

He added: ‘Changing, changing, changing managers, but what about other areas? I can’t say more.

‘Tonight it’s easy to say the coach, it’s easy to say the players but also we have to say other areas.’

The 28-year-old followed up his comments with a statement on Wednesday night, in which he rowed back slightly on the criticism of others at the club but certainly did not apologise.

Martinez wrote on social media: ‘Following everything that has been said about my comments yesterday, I want to share some thoughts on what I said and how I feel.

‘After the match, I spoke out of anger and frustration at not getting the result we all wanted.

‘Those who know me know how I live football, with passion, commitment and a huge desire to win. And when things don’t go our way, it hurts, especially when representing a club with the history and stature of Manchester United.

‘My words reflect how I feel and how much I want to see this club competing for the biggest honours. Those high standards are part of how I see football and the responsibility that comes with wearing this shirt.

Martinez has not been in good form for Manchester United this season (Picture: Getty Images)

‘When I talk about wanting more, I’m talking about the ambition we must all have as part of this club. To keep growing, to become stronger and to have everything we need to compete at the highest level. These are standards we must all hold ourselves to, starting with me.

‘I know that, first and foremost, it’s us, the players, who have to deliver, and I put myself at the front of that responsibility. We need to demand even more of ourselves and work together to take Manchester United back to the top.

‘I believe in my teammates, our manager and everyone working to help this club move forward. I’m convinced that the way forward is to keep working together, with ambition and commitment.

‘My goal has been the same since day one, to win, to compete at the highest level and to give everything I have for this badge.’

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^ ^ Chelsea in pole position to sign £100m star ahead of Liverpool as Man Utd pull out

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea are in ‘pole position’ to sign England midfielder Alex Scott from Bournemouth, according to reports.

The Blues expressed interest in signing Scott, 23, last summer and even made an initial bid worth £64m plus add-ons.

Bournemouth rejected Chelsea’s approach, however, and told potential suitors that Scott would not be leaving in the summer.

However, it was reported earlier this week that Bournemouth had performed a U-turn and were now ‘open’ to selling Scott in January ‘under certain conditions’.

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Bournemouth will demand £100m to sell Scott, who impressed for England during the recent international break before suffering an injury setback, and only sanction his exit if they pull away from the relegation zone.

The Cherries have endured a difficult start to the season, failing to win any of their first six games under new boss Marco Rose.

Bournemouth are missing Scott, who was brilliant last season and narrowly missed out on a place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup.

Bournemouth and England midfielder Alex Scott (Picture: Getty)

Scott is believed to be ‘pushing to leave’ the Vitality Stadium having rejected two contract offers at the end of last season.

The midfielder has attracted interest from Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal over the past 12 months.

But Chelsea are in ‘pole position’ to sign Scott, according to the Daily Mirror, and expect to bring the highly-rated star to Stamford Bridge in January.

Scott in action for England (Picture: Shutterstock)

Xabi Alonso was keen to sign a new midfielder at the end of the summer transfer window after Chelsea sold Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City.

But deadline-day deals for Lamine Camara, Manu Kone and James Garner failed to materialise, leaving Alonso a little short in the midfield areas.

Chelsea’s main competition for Scott will likely come from Liverpool given Manchester United and Manchester City successfully bolstered their midfield options over the summer.

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United spent over £150m on three midfielders – Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba – while City signed Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi on top of Fernandez.

Following his full England debut, Three Lions boss Tuchel described Scott as the ‘complete package’.

‘First start and what a start, what a performance,’ Tuchel said. ‘He is so smooth on the ball, his decision making is at the highest level.

‘He plays with so much confidence. He is so active, so confident. The work rate off the ball. He is just the complete package.

‘He gave us a lot of mobility and a lot of variety and work rate in the centre of the pitch.’

Chelsea are sixth in the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s trip to Everton,who are yet to taste defeat so far this season.

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