Lisandro Martinez right to ape Carragher while Wilcox swerves Man Utd scrutiny

Almost nobody is criticising Lisandro Martinez for what he said in the wake of Manchester United’s latest clusterf***; the only debate rages around his right to say it.

Jamie Carragher and Wayne Rooney have both criticised Martinez for daring to speak out about the ineptitude above Michael Carrick.

Neither have deconstructed his argument that United failed to do what was necessary in the summer – and for a long time before – to enable Carrick to take the team to the next level.

Because they can’t. Martinez was not just speaking the truth, he was stating the bleedin’ obvious. To criticise him for that is a nonsense.

Carragher and Rooney took umbrage with Martinez breaking the sanctity of the dressing room, but the Argentinean was speaking for those within it. If that is not the consensus within the squad, then United are more f***ed than we thought.

That’s the crucial difference. Martinez was not criticising his team-mates or the manager – even if he hardly mounted a robust defence of Carrick.

The layer of authority Martinez targeted wasn’t even a thing when Carragher and Rooney played at their peak. If it was – and it operated as shoddily as United do at executive level – you can bet they would have something to say about it.

Rooney certainly did when he told Sir Alex Ferguson he wanted to leave in 2010 because David Gill “did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad”.

And Carragher took ‘family matters outside the front door’ in 2008 when he tore into Tom Hicks and George Gillett over their stewardship of Liverpool. That wasn’t in the adrenaline-fuelled heat of a post-match interview but an autobiography, which aren’t exactly published on impulse.

Carragher was right then and he’s unlikely to have regrets now. The same is true of Martinez.

Carragher and many others have pointed out that the United defender isn’t speaking from a position of great authority because of his form. A fair observation but it misses the point. Martinez acknowledges the players ‘have to do more’ but they, like Carrick, have been let down by the people upstairs.

Carrick and the squad came together through the second half of last season to drag United back into the Champions League, though Carragher took issue with Martinez describing it as ‘a great season’ because United had nothing but the Premier League to focus on while Liverpool and Chelsea were ‘so bad’.

PL table between Carrick’s appointment and the end of last season

That’s fair, but so too was Martinez’s expectation – and that of every United fan – that Carrick would be given the necessary tools to make the team competitive again at this level.

Jason Wilcox and his cronies failed.

Long before recruitment departments were a thing, football clubs could do more than one thing at once in the transfer market. United seem to pride themselves on the opposite.

Yes, they needed midfielders and they signed three. But they also needed a centre-forward – they have only one whose fitness cannot be relied upon – and at least one defender.

They will get to the defence next summer but judging by United now operate, it will be 2028 before they think about signing a striker.

It’s the kind of logic that demands an explanation. But Wilcox and those really in control of United’s destiny operate only in the shadows. Who among us could pick out recruitment director Christopher Vivell in an identity parade?

With so much power yet none of the accountability, these are the cushiest gigs in the game. Not just at Old Trafford, but almost everywhere. At least on the continent there is an expectation that sporting directors and directors of football front up before independent media from time to time; the Premier League is way behind on that score.

All we see of Wilcox is the odd cosy chat with United’s in-house channels. He makes sure to be front and centre when new signings are unveiled but otherwise he is as shifty as someone who knows he has been promoted way above his talent.

None of what Martinez said will come as a shock to those it was aimed at. Of course, self-preservation is in play while the United players flounder on the pitch. But the message, regardless of who relays it, has been persistently ignored.

Those clutching their pearls about Martinez speaking out are fretting over absolutely the wrong thing.