Lisandro Martínez Pins Transfer Criticism on Manchester United’s Technical Director After 2-0 Atletico Defeat

After Manchester United’s 2-0 Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid in Madrid, Lisandro Martínez publicly criticised the club’s management and singled out the director of football in comments published on Oct. 14, 2026. The remarks followed a match in which Atletico were described as winning comfortably and came amid pressure on manager Michael Carrick, who has won one of his previous seven games.

Martínez told Amazon Prime after the game in Madrid that responsibility for the club’s summer recruitment lay with Carrick’s superiors rather than the manager or the players. He said Manchester United spent only £150 million on new signings during the summer transfer window and that the squad had not been strengthened to the level of competing teams. The defender also acknowledged Atletico’s quality, saying they “deserve to win today.”

“Really poor. Really poor,” Martínez said. “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,” Martínez added. “But I expect more [investment]. 100%. I expect more from our technical director [Jason 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.”

Jason Wilcox is Manchester United’s director of football, having joined the Red Devils as Technical Director on April 19, 2024 after leaving his role as director of football at Southampton. After serving as the team’s technical director from April 2024 to June 2025, he was promoted to director of football at Manchester United.

Wilcox is described as being in charge of all daily football operations for the men’s, women’s, and Academy teams. Using his prior experience as Southampton Director of Football and Manchester City Academy Director, he oversees player recruitment, scouting, and style alignment from the young academy to the first team.

He is in charge of the club’s daily operations, from signing players to management.