Paul Scholes’ sniping from the sidelines about Lisandro Martinez have caused a backlash in the Manchester United dressing room, which is feeling newly emboldened after the win over Manchester City
Paul Scholes mocked Lisandro Martinez in the build-up to the derby(Image: YouTube / The Good, The Bad & The Football)
Paul Scholes has accepted the offer to visit Lisandro Martinez’s house and voice his criticism in person after a heightening in tensions between ex-stars and current Manchester United players.
Martinez was one of the stand-out players as United deservedly beat Manchester City 2-0 in the derby in Michael Carrick’s first game as interim manager on Saturday. The Argentina defender got the better of Erling Haaland in his duel, despite the obvious mismatch in their heights.
That came after the 5ft 9in centre-back copped some stick from ex-United midfielders Scholes and Nicky Butt. Butt joked Haaland “would pick Martinez up and run with him” like a “dad after school running down the road with a little toddler”, while Scholes added “he’d score then throw him in the net”.
Martinez was asked about the comments post-match and said: “Honestly, he (Scholes) can say whatever he wants. I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to wherever he wants. To my house, wherever. I don’t care. Everyone can talk on the television but when you sit here face to face, no one says anything in your face.
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“So for me, I don’t really care what they say. I just put the focus on my performance, the performance of the team and I give everything to this club until my last day.”
Responding to a post of the quotes, Scholes wrote on Instagram: “Someone’s had a good game, was really happy for you… Tea, no sugar pls @lisandromartinezzz.”
Tensions between pundits like Scholes, Butt and Gary Neville have been growing this season amid the struggles for United under Ruben Amorim. But the arrival of Carrick as interim head coach produced an immediate impact as goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu gave them three points against City.
Lisandro Martinez won the battle with Erling Haaland(Image: Getty Images)
That is what Martinez really wanted to focus on when speaking to reporters. Asked if Scholes’ comments give him extra motivation, Martinez said: “No, no, nothing. It doesn’t give me anything. My motivation is my family. That’s it.”
He was full of praise for Carrick and his staff. “So different, so different. Different mentality, different guy,” he said of the impact in training this week.
“He knows what it really means, this club. He sent us that message that he played here for a long, long time. He won everything. He’s a big legend. He wants to help the club and I think we were in a tough situation and today was the best moment to change that.”
Martinez added: “When you have a coach like Michael Carrick, who really knows, who really can share with you the energy of the club and what it means, it’s so different.”
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