Manchester United's Martinez blasts board's lack of investment

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez expressed his frustration at the club's board regarding their inadequate investment over the summer, following the team's 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The loss in the Spanish capital has resulted in United extending their winless streak to five matches across all competitions, marking the worst start to a league season for the club in four decades.

"Really poor," Martinez remarked to Amazon Prime when reflecting on the team's performance against Atletico.

"I have to control myself a lot, but sometimes it is a reflection… [or] a mirror of how our club is at the moment," he added.

Martinez indicated that he "100 percent" anticipated greater financial backing for the squad during the summer transfer window after United had secured a third-place finish in the Premier League last season and returned to Europe's premier competition.

"I expect more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox]. I have to be honest. As players, we need to do more, but it is also essential to have a strong squad prepared for these types of nights," he continued.

He noted that the previous season saw the club "create the base to build an amazing team," but lamented that they did not follow through on that potential.

As the pressure mounts on coach Michael Carrick following five consecutive winless matches, Martinez suggested that dismissing the Englishman would not resolve the issues at hand.

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

"Tonight, it is easy to blame the coach [for the loss], or the players, but we also need to evaluate other areas."

Additionally, minority owner Jim Ratcliffe was present at the stadium during the league-phase defeat against last season’s semi-finalists.

Manchester United invested approximately £140 million ($185m) this summer on midfielders Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans, and Andrey Santos. However, supporters expressed disappointment that the club failed to strengthen other critical positions, particularly left-back and striker.

After the match, Carrick mentioned that he had not been aware of Martinez's comments and thus could not comment on them.

"I think it's a little bit due to the emotions of the game as well, coming here and being disappointed not to get something from the game," the coach explained.

Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney remarked that Martinez's criticism may have been excessive.

"I think he's maybe gone a bit too far, and that should have stayed internal," Rooney told Amazon Prime.

"You can clearly see that he cares and he wants the club to invest more money in more players, and to do that he's probably one of the players who’ll be out the door if I’m being honest."