Manchester United should never play Lisandro Martínez again. In 18 days he has gone after the sporting director in public and got himself sent off at Stamford Bridge. He has no respect for the club or the fans. I'm a Liverpool fan writing this, and I'm not trying to rub salt in the wound. I'm writing it because watching him winds me up. Don't know where he thinks he is.
Chelsea went ahead in the 50th minute through a solo goal from Morgan Rogers. In the 63rd, Martínez, already on a yellow card, went into Wesley Fofana in his own box. Sky Sports described the contact as an elbow. VAR sent the referee, Peter Bankes, to the monitor, and he gave a penalty and a second yellow. Cole Palmer scored it and Chelsea won 2–0. On TNT Sports, Ally McCoist called it "ridiculous defending." Michael Carrick did not look up as Martínez walked off.
I was watching live and missed it in real time. On the replays I couldn't believe two things: what he'd done, and how long VAR took to step in on one of the most blatant penalties you'll see. Fofana was down for a while, holding his face. The referee gave a second yellow, but it should have been a straight red. Either way he was going. You can't just elbow people in the face and expect to get away with it with VAR.
I can't say for certain that he got himself sent off on purpose. He just looks completely not interested.
It isn't the first time. At Selhurst Park in September 2024 he went in two-footed on Daichi Kamada and got a yellow. The Premier League's independent Key Match Incidents panel backed the referee, but called it "a ridiculous challenge." Six weeks later, a late tackle on Cole Palmer at Old Trafford brought another yellow, and Enzo Maresca said it was clearly a red. In April this year he was sent off against Leeds for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair and was suspended.
Then there are the last few weeks. After the 2–0 defeat at Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on 13 October, Martínez said in his post-match interview that he expected more from the sporting director, Jason Wilcox, and complained about the lack of investment over the summer. The next night he put out a statement on Instagram. As Sky Sports pointed out, it stopped short of an apology. The apology came the day after, once he had sat down with Wilcox, the chief executive Omar Berrada and Carrick.
His contract runs out next summer, with a club option to extend by a year. The Athletic reported that he doesn't want the extension, and Tim Sherwood said on The Overlap the next day that he only spoke out because he wants to leave. Put Saturday next to all that and it looks to me like a player who wants out.
The best case for Martínez is that he said what plenty of people at United think. The Guardian reported that his team-mates broadly share his view that Wilcox is failing, and ESPN's Mark Ogden argued that the outburst showed where the blame lies: with the people above Carrick. On recruitment, I agree. I just don't think he should have said it in public. Paul Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football that he wasn't saying Martínez was wrong, but "it's not his business." Gary Neville, a former United captain, went further on Sky Sports the day after the Chelsea game. He said that if he were giving away the goals Martínez does, he wouldn't be doing interviews. He'd be "curled up in a ball."
He's a lucky boy, and he's nowhere near good enough for them. Neville is specific about why. He said every time he watches Martínez for United he is at fault for a goal, and that Rogers' opener on Saturday was his fault alone. All defenders give goals away, Neville said, but the number Martínez gives away is remarkable. He allowed that Martínez is a World Cup winner, and said none of it surprised him.
People will say the medal settles it. Average players win trophies: World Cups, league titles, Champions Leagues. Winning a big one doesn't make you world-class, and it's the saying in football that winds me up most. In Qatar in 2022, Cristian Romero and Nicolás Otamendi were Lionel Scaloni's first-choice centre-backs. Martínez started two games, against Mexico and the Netherlands, and was an unused substitute in the final. Argentina won that World Cup because they had Lionel Messi, the greatest player there has ever been, and Martínez was lucky enough to be born in the same country. This summer he started six of Argentina's seven games, including the final, which he left injured before half-time. Argentina lost 1–0 to Spain after extra time.
The one thing I remember is Anfield on 5 March 2023. In the build-up to Cody Gakpo's second goal in the 7–0, Mo Salah put him on his backside. The so-called Butcher was falling around like Bambi on ice.
He thinks he's a hard case. He thinks he's a lot better than he is. He should be thankful he played for one of the biggest clubs in the world, because he's not at that level. I hope United never play him again.