Wayne Rooney slammed Lisandro Martinez for his post-match interview after Manchester United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid. The Argentine defender opted to put technical director Jason Wilcox on blast by calling out a lack of recruitment.
United were beaten at the Metropolitano and ended the night with 10 men following Leny Yoro's sending off. They conceded the opener in the first minute when poor defending allowed Pablo Barrios to pounce.
Atleti's one-man advantage led to a second in the 79th minute when Ademola Lookman fired past Senne Lammens. Another frustrating outing led to a bombshell of an interview from Martinez which didn't impress Rooney.
Wayne Rooney Slams Lisandro Martinez
Martinez spoke to Amazon Prime Sport after the loss and targeted the higher-ups. He said:
"I expect more from our technical director... If you don’t change, next season it’s a big problem... You keep changing managers but what about other areas?... It’s easy to say coach, players, but also we have to see others?"
Rooney and his former United teammate Ashley Young were on punditry duties and they took aim at Martinez for his comments. They found issue with the Argentine's timing and Rooney even suggested that he'd chosen to air his grievances due to his contractual situation.
United's all-time top scorer said: "He's gone a bit too far... you can clearly see he cares. But he'll probably be one of those who go out the door based on his performances which hasn't been good enough."
Rooney alleged that Martinez had an "agenda" and had "looked to say that because that interview doesn't mirror the performance."
He added: "He's disrespecting his teammates. It's not going to help the situation at the club at the minute."
Rooney himself questioned the club's recruitment during his time at Old Trafford as a player. But he felt Martinez wasn't in a position to do so given his injury record and what he perceives to be a contentious relationship with fans.
Man Utd Fans Might Not Agree With Rooney
While Rooney may feel Martinez shouldn't be the one to voice frustrations about United's transfer activity or lack of in the summer, but for the fans, this has been a long time coming. INEOS have focused on a patient rebuild but there were glaring issues in defence last season that weren't addressed.
The fact that Ayden Heaven had to move into a makeshift left-back role because of Luke Shaw's latest injury absence speaks volumes. Rooney's response didn't go down well with supporters who felt that Martinez was trying to highlight a lack of backing shown towards Michael Carrick.
Rooney also said he doesn't think Martinez has connected with the fans but many of them will disagree. He's a fan favourite and someone they had envisioned replacing Bruno Fernandes as captain in the future.
For Carrick, it's more controversy and perhaps that's what Rooney is trying to point out. But to claim that it's "disrespecting the whole football club" is a bold statement given the protests that take place weekly at Old Trafford against the current ownership.
