Manchester United have made their feelings clear about Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes’ comments towards Lisandro Martínez.
It’s been a chaotic few weeks at Manchester United, with three different managers taking charge throughout the last four games. Rúben Amorim’s reign came to an end after an outburst in his post-match interview for the Leeds game, and Darren Fletcher’s two-game spell as interim showed no signs of improvement. However, Michael Carrick made United’s toughest game of the season look easy in his return to the club, with a 2-0 victory over bitter rivals Manchester City.
The Reds were written off by almost everyone in the build-up to the derby after a disappointing defeat to Brighton knocked United out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle. Two notable attendees to that game were club legends Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who accompanied Sir Alex Ferguson in the director’s box.
The pair are hugely respected in the United fanbase and the wider football world, and they now share their views weekly on their podcast, “The Good, The Bad & The Football.” On this, they discuss news about football, share stories and chat about their beloved United, sometimes giving controversial opinions which generate social media talk.
It is understood that United are unhappy with recent comments made by the two ahead of the Manchester Derby. The comments were mostly negative towards United, which is understandable given the current situation at the club, but personal comments towards United’s Lisandro Martinez felt unnecessary.
Martinez mocked by ex-players
In the most recent episode of “The Good, The Bad & The Football,” Scholes and Butt discussed the upcoming derby and expressed their concerns. They were particularly concerned about the prolific Erling Haaland, but made comments about Lisandro Martinez, mocking his height ahead of the pair’s clash.
Butt sarcastically suggested Haaland would “pick Martinez up and run with him” and said their battle would resemble “a dad after school running down the road with a little toddler.”
Scholes added: “He’d score, then throw him in the net.” Scholes and Butt are not the first pundits to doubt the Argentine and probably won’t be the last. No matter how often Martínez shows his quality, especially in big games, there is still a lazy narrative around the defender due to being 5’9 in stature.
Martínez proved his critics wrong again in the game. United beat City 2-0, and the scoreline does not do the team’s performance much justice. Martínez was outstanding next to Harry Maguire and the pair kept Haaland quiet, keeping a clean sheet and seeing Haaland substituted in the second half. It goes down as the Norwegian’s seventh battle against “the butcher,” and the sixth time he has failed to score against him.
Since his arrival in 2022, Martínez has been top class and has become a fan favourite at United. He is always the subject of mocking, criticism and doubt, but yesterday’s dominant performance is another that proves people wrong.
Martinez hits back at Scholes
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt now join the likes of Jamie Carragher, Graeme Souness and plenty of others on the list of pundits to mock the Argentine’s height, and ultimately, be proven completely wrong.
Martínez’s precise passing and elite ball-playing make him a unique defender, and he is highly valuable to his team. United’s build-up play and press resistance are massively improved when he plays, and he has been a big miss during his time out recovering from an ACL tear.
The World Cup winner previously captained United during the period when Bruno Fernandes was injured, showing the leadership he brings. His personality is fiery and aggressive on and off the pitch, and he is not afraid to hit back at pundits. After dominating Haaland and keeping a clean sheet, Martínez hit back at Scholes after he mocked him again on his podcast.
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“Honestly, he can say whatever he wants,” Martinez said. “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.
“I think for me, I respect the relations [ex-players] when they want to help the club because everyone can talk on the television, but when you see [them] here face to face, no one says anything in your face,” Martínez continued.
“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.”
Scholes responded to Martínez’s comments on Instagram after the match: “Someone’s had a good game, was really happy for you… Tea, no sugar pls.”
Martínez is admired by the fans for his passion and his elite quality on the pitch. Saturday was another outstanding performance by the South American, and he was not ‘picked up and ran with’ by Erling Haaland after all. He instead prevented Haaland from registering a shot on target and watched him walk off the pitch in the 80th minute, whilst his team were two goals to the good.
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