Lisandro Martínez’s assessment that Jason Wilcox is failing as Manchester United’s director of football is widely shared inside the dressing room, where frustration over recruitment and squad depth has been building. The defender spoke out after Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League defeat at Atlético Madrid, and his intervention is also being viewed as an attempt to secure a move — he is out of contract next summer and plans to leave.
That defeat, in which United played with 10 men and conceded to Barrios after 53 seconds, left Michael Carrick’s side with two wins all season and only six points from their first six Premier League matches, the club’s poorest league start for 40 years. The run has placed Carrick’s position under pressure, though Martínez directed his criticism at the hierarchy rather than the manager.
“Tonight it is easy to say the coach, easy to say the players but also we have to see other areas,” Martínez said, pointing upwards. “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.”
Wilcox, the executive in charge of transfers, oversaw a £155m spend in the last window on Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. The decision to recruit three midfielders without strengthening other areas has been met with puzzlement within the squad, particularly as Wilcox had targeted a left-back, with Newcastle’s Lewis Hall the prime target.
Luke Shaw is United’s only senior player in that position, and his 12-year career at the club has been plagued by injury. The 31-year-old missed the Atlético defeat and Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham because of a muscular problem.
The lack of depth at left-back reflects the prevailing view among the players that Carrick has been left without the resources to challenge. United were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Brighton after making eight changes. Carrick did lead the club to third last season, but that came after he took over as caretaker in mid-January with only 17 league games to play, the team having been out of all other competitions.
Martínez, who joined United from Ajax in 2022, is understood to favour a move, ideally to an elite European club outside the Premier League.