Criticism that rocked United / The main reason for Lissandro's controversial attack revealed

Lissandro Martinez's anger towards the Manchester United officials was due to the fact that Aiden Haven had to play in the left-back position.

According to Sports Three, the 28-year-old Argentine defender believes asking Hoenn, who is a centre-back, to fill in for the injured Luke Shaw at home to Atletico Madrid proved the board failed to provide a strong enough squad to compete at the highest level.

Martinez publicly criticized United director of football Jason Wilcox for a lack of ambition in an interview with club legend Peter Schmeichel after the 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid and caused a stir at Old Trafford before apologizing on Thursday after being fined by the club.

Manager Michael Carrick wanted the club to sign Lewis Hall from Newcastle United in the summer as a replacement for the injury-prone Luke Shaw, but the directors said there was insufficient funds. Instead, they spent just £153 million on three midfielders, Carlos Balba, Youri Tillmans and Andre Santos.

Shaw limped off Old Trafford after Manchester United's 1-1 Premier League draw with Tottenham on Saturday and is feared to be out for several weeks.

A source told The Sun: "Martinez was furious because he thinks forcing Aiden to play at left-back in Madrid shows how poorly equipped the team is. "The team does not have enough depth and the responsibility for this lies directly with the board."

The source added that Martinez did not directly criticize Hoehn, but was angry that the former Arsenal academy player, who signed for the Red Devils in February 2025 and has made 26 appearances, was asked to play in a non-specialist position. Martinez's comments deflected blame from Crick and onto the board.

After the game, former United defender Gary Neville said on Overlap that Hoenn and Lenny Euro, the team's other centre-back who was sent off in the game, would be most worried about Martinez's comments.