Michael Carrick Insists “I’m Telling You the Truth” About Martinez Row

• Michael Carrick says Lisandro Martinez’s apology is “enough” and that Manchester United have moved on from the defender’s attack on the club’s hierarchy.
• Wayne Rooney warned that the comments “will rip the dressing room apart”, while Carrick replied: “I’m telling you the truth.”
• Martinez is in the squad for Sunday’s trip to Leeds, but Sky Sports News reports real doubts over whether his contract will be extended in the summer.

Carrick Tells Critics Ex-Pros Do Not Know What Is Going On Inside United

Michael Carrick had a message on Friday for the former players lining up to criticise Lisandro Martinez, and for the supporters reading their verdicts. “I’m telling you the truth,” the Manchester United head coach said, insisting the squad is “in a good place” after a week dominated by the defender’s public attack on the club’s hierarchy.

Martinez spoke after Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid. He named director of football Jason Wilcox directly, saying: “I expect more from our technical director.” Sky Sports reports that the criticism centred on a lack of investment in the transfer window.

On Thursday, Martinez met the club’s hierarchy, including Wilcox, chief executive Omar Berrada and Carrick, before issuing an apology. His statement read: “The frustration of the defeat led me to express how I felt at a time and place that perhaps were not the right ones, and for that I want to apologise.” The Guardian points out that the statement did not mention Wilcox and did not withdraw the argument for more squad investment.

What Carrick Said About the Apology

Asked whether he respected Martinez for not saying sorry to Wilcox, Carrick kept to a single line. “He’s released his statement, he’s realised he’s made a mistake and that’s enough for all of us to move on with,” he said.

Pressed on whether a fuller apology covering the wider comments about investment would have been better, Carrick said the club had “moved on and we’re definitely not looking back at it now”. He also said: “It’s really not a drama for the group. The squad have trained really well and they are in good spirits.”

Carrick was asked whether the comments had annoyed him. “No, I understand emotion at times,” he replied. He added that there is “a way of doing that, and that’s already been acknowledged”. He went further on the mood in the camp: “Certain situations can galvanise the group, and it’s certainly galvanised the group as this week’s progressed.”

Rooney, Carragher and the Credibility Question

Wayne Rooney, the club’s record goalscorer and a teammate of Carrick at Old Trafford for more than a decade, claimed Martinez’s comments “will rip the dressing room apart”. Jamie Carragher described the outburst as “awful” and Rooney called it “disrespectful”.

Carrick was asked why anyone outside the club should believe in the unity he describes. “There’s a lot of people that say a lot of things, and ex-pros or not ex-pros, it doesn’t necessarily mean you understand what’s going on here,” he said. “The players totally believe me.” He pointed to the way the team responded to conceding inside a minute in Madrid, which he said “shows an underlying belief and spirit and a togetherness”.

Sky Sports’ Pete Gill wrote that Carrick handled the questions calmly, but that United’s talking needs to be done on the pitch. Gill picked out Carrick’s insistence that all is well as the one jarring note, and the head coach only seemed ruffled when it was suggested he needed a result at Leeds. “We need a result,” Carrick interjected.

Wilcox Stays Quiet While the Results Slide

The pressure on Carrick is real. United have taken six points from their opening six league games, are on a five-game winless run, went out of the Carabao Cup to Brighton last month and have one win and one defeat in the Champions League. Sunday’s trip to Leeds kicks off at 2pm and is live on Sky Sports from 1pm. A visit to Como follows.

Wilcox has given only one extended interview in his current role. It came nearly a year ago, after a run of three wins, and it was with the club’s in-house media. Asked whether Wilcox should speak in public more often, Carrick said: “I don’t think it’s for me to say whether he should or not.” He added: “I’ve got no problem sitting here, talking to you guys and leading the group, leading the team, leading the football club from this position. We’re all in it together.”

Sky Sports News football correspondent Rob Dorsett reports that there are real doubts about whether Martinez’s contract will be extended when it expires in the summer. United hold a formal option to keep him for a further year, and the club are looking at new centre-backs and left-backs. Dorsett understands there is no internal pressure on Wilcox over his position.

Martinez, 28, has wanted to leave Old Trafford for some time. In the summer he pushed for a move to Atletico Madrid, the side that beat United on Tuesday, to join his friend and international teammate Cristian Romero, who left Tottenham for Spain. No suitable bid arrived. Sky Sports notes that he made similar comments about his bosses at Ajax in 2022, when he called sporting director Gerry Hamstra a “nobody”.

Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo face fitness tests before Sunday. Martinez is in the squad for the trip.