Lisandro Martinez tells Paul Scholes: Come to my house and criticise me to my face

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez has given a withering riposte to Paul Scholes and claimed pundits never have the nerve to repeat their criticism of players to their face.

Scholes and fellow former United midfielder Nicky Butt mocked Martínez on their podcast in advance of Saturday’s derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Butt had claimed Erling Haaland would “pick Martínez up and run with him” like “a dad at school running down the road with a little toddler” to which Scholes added that the City striker would “score then throw him in the net”. Scholes had earlier winced about the prospect of “Martínez against Haaland”.

But Haaland ended up being completely nullified by the Argentina defender and the similarly outstanding Harry Maguire before being substituted with 10 minutes remaining of United’s resounding 2-0 victory.

And Martínez has challenged Scholes, 51, to come round to his house and repeat those remarks made on his The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.

“No, honestly, he can say whatever he wants,” the United centre-back 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.”

Scholes replied on Instagram to Martínez’s comments about coming round to his house, saying: “Someone’s had a good game, was really happy for you… Tea, no sugar pls.”

United’s squad have become accustomed to fierce criticism from the club’s army of former players working in the media.

But Martínez, 28, said those same critics do not say a word when in the company of the players.

“I think, for me, I respect the relations when they want to help the club because everyone can talk on the television,” he said.

“But when you see [them] here face to face, no one says anything in your face. 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.”

Asked if the barbs gave him extra motivation, Martínez added: “No, nothing. It doesn’t give me anything. My motivation is my family. That’s it.

“People always say whatever they want, it’s something that I can’t control. What I can only do is to show on the pitch and I think today I showed it.

“Imagine [if] we have to think [about] what people say. We have to be focused for the rest of this club. We want to change this situation and we are the only ones who can change it.”

Scholes, Butt, Roy Keane and Gary Neville have been among the most vocal former United players in recent years.

But Scholes, Butt and Keane have faced a backlash from some United supporters in the last week after being accused of crossing a line with some of their remarks.

Keane took an ugly, cheap shot at Michael Carrick’s wife Lisa on the Stick to Football podcast, reopening old wounds after a brief spat with the United head coach’s partner in 2014 when she branded the Irishman a c--- after he criticised an interview her husband gave.

“His wife can always come in [if Carrick doesn’t do well], cause she’s got a bit of a big mouth sometimes. She’s probably doing the team talk,” Keane said this week.

Carrick brushed off Keane’s comments on Friday and said outside noise from pundits was “totally irrelevant” in his eyes. “Honestly, it didn’t bother me,” Carrick said.

Martínez was effusive in his praise of the impact Carrick had made in the days leading up to the City match and hinted at marked changes from his predecessor Ruben Amorim’s tumultuous reign.

“So different, so different,” Martínez said when asked what training had been like under Carrick. “Different mentality, different guy. He [Carrick] knows what this club really means.

“He sent us that message that he played here for a long, long time. He won everything. He is 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. He was quiet. He was smiling. He was really confident and that helps a lot.

“The team today was different. It was different. 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.

“For me, I don’t put focus on the result. I just put focus on the performance, the connection with the people, the connection with the team. You see that and I don’t think they had a shot on goal. Well, just one. And you can feel the mentality. You can feel something different.”

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