Michael Carrick has brushed off questions over Lisandro Martínez’s attitude and said he expects the defender to keep his place as Manchester United prepare for Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday. The manager’s backing comes after Martínez was fined for comments about the club’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, and sent off in the defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Carrick said he has “got no concerns about commitment at all” and added that football can bring mistakes, setbacks and bad decisions without changing how he feels about a player. “That doesn’t change the way I feel,” he said, insisting the focus is now on the next match rather than the noise around it.
The timing matters because United have failed to win any of their past nine matches and are under strain in both competitions. Away defeats against Atlético Madrid and Como have left them 21st in the Champions League league phase, while the mood at home darkened again after the 3-0 defeat against Bournemouth, when the players were booed by the Stretford End.
Kobbie Mainoo said the team owe the fans results after that run, saying supporters cannot be expected to be happy “100,000% of the time” when the team are not delivering. He said the squad must repay them with performances, a view that underlines how much is riding on Tuesday and the weekend that follows.
There is still a hard edge to the situation. Martínez has already been fined and is suspended for the visit of Unai Emery’s team after his red card at Stamford Bridge, but Carrick’s refusal to question his commitment suggests the defender’s standing has not been damaged by the disciplinary setback. The unanswered issue is whether that patience lasts beyond Tuesday, especially with Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Benjamin Sesko unavailable and Patrick Dorgu not yet fit enough to return.
Carrick said he cannot look into the future and does not know what will happen, only that he is focused on the game ahead. For Manchester United, that means Roma first and Aston Villa on Sunday, with results now carrying the kind of weight that leaves little room for another wrong turn.
