Ex-Manchester United star calls for Lisandro Martínez sale in a remarkable outburst
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Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has unleashed a scathing attack on 'bluffer' Lisandro Martínez, demanding the defender be offloaded in a remarkable outburst. Martínez, 28, capped off a dismal October during Saturday's lackluster 2-0 loss at Chelsea by receiving a red card after conceding a penalty for an elbow.
This came just over two weeks after the Argentine publicly criticized the club's board in a fiery post-match interview. Martínez took aim at United's hierarchy for failing to do enough in the transfer window, singling out director of football Jason Wilcox for criticism.
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The defender was handed a fine for his remarks but has retained his starting spot under Michael Carrick's struggling side — despite a series of costly errors, including being outmuscled by Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke, who capitalized to score a stoppage-time equalizer earlier this month. Butt, who has a history with Martínez alongside Paul Scholes, has grown tired of the defender and would move him on if given the opportunity.
-Credit:Justin Setterfield, Getty Images"That lad's a bluffer, full stop," the former United midfielder declared on 'Football Uncensored', via The Mirror. "Just a bluffer. The Butcher, his nickname is. I mean it's... yeah.
"He called out my mate (Scholes) and it was probably my fault, I said something tongue-in-cheek on a podcast and it was like, '[Erling] Haaland would pick up and carry him'. It was tongue-in-cheek; I didn't think for one minute he would even though Solanke did about a week ago.
"But with him, he's come out and called out a player (Scholes) who's won 11 Premier Leagues for Man United and played for god knows how many years. 'You come and see me and knock on my front door', you can't speak anything about these players because they get all touchy with it.
"Then he's got the audacity to go out onto an interview and slag off the powers that be about buying players when he's not even playing well himself. If they were going to go and buy players, he'd be careful because he's the first one they'd replace. Performance-wise, he's been lacking so much.
"Listen, I was never the best player; I know my level, I know I had a lot of bad games. But one thing I did every single time I went out was run myself into the ground and was honest when looking at my teammates in the eye and said, 'I gave you everything I've got. I might've been crap today but I worked hard'.
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"He (Martínez) threw it in the other day. He threw it in with that elbow because that was the most obvious thing anyone could do. The reason why he did it is because he's not strong enough to defend properly.
"He thought, 'You know what, I'll cut corners, I'll cheat, I'll put my elbow is someone's face and I'll get sent off and I'll leave all the other 10 lads, who by the way I said two weeks ago that these aren't good enough to play with me'.
"I'm getting changed in the changing room and I'm sitting next to these lads and they're going, 'he thinks I'm not good enough'. If that was back in my day, he would've completely have had his head ripped off. Everyone would've said, 'Who do you think you are talking about me like that with the performances you're putting in?'
"Even if he was European Player of the Year, you still don't speak like that about your team-mates and your powers that be upstairs. No matter what you think behind closed doors, you don't go and say that.
"He has now gone from - I don't know why, I have no idea why - he's gone from someone the fans love to someone the fans loathe and want out of their football club. He's absolutely killed himself.
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"Not only that, he lives in our country and he's dancing around with an Argentinian flag in the World Cup. What are you doing? And you expect people to go and pat your on the back when you've had a bad game.
"Some of these people need to understand... so what if you're on £200,000 (just under $270,000) a week and you're driving your Rolls-Royce through your little village thinking you're King Dick. You can do that all you want but you can't have people tapping you on the back when you're playing so badly and you're slagging people off.
"So I agree with you, Piers (Morgan), I'd be taking him straight out."
The reference to Martínez's conduct at the FIFA World Cup relates to his participation alongside fellow Argentina players in displaying a flag asserting that the Falkland Islands belonged to Argentina rather than the UK, following their 2-1 semi-final victory over England.
Martínez will serve a suspension during United's next Premier League fixture at home against Aston Villa on Sunday. However, the 28-year-old is available for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League game against AS Roma, where the Red Devils will look to end a nine-game winless run.