Michael Carrick has done the sensible thing and said the obvious thing: Lisandro Martínez’s commitment is not in doubt. In a week where Manchester United can barely afford another distraction, that matters. The defender was sent off in the defeat against Chelsea at the weekend and had already been fined for comments about Jason Wilcox, but Carrick is insisting the issue is not attitude. It is football. Messy, chaotic, increasingly frustrating football.
That may not calm anybody down at Old Trafford, because United are running out of room for comfort. They have failed to win any of their past nine matches, they are trying to end their worst run in 38 years, and the schedule now turns brutally quickly. On Tuesday, they visit Roma in the Champions League. On Sunday, Aston Villa arrive in the Premier League. That is a proper stress test, not a gentle reset.
Carrick’s message is blunt: the problem is not Martínez’s commitment
“I’ve got no concerns about commitment at all,” Carrick said, and he was clear that the red card and the fine do not change his view. “Things happen in football, sometimes you do things, sometimes you make a decision, sometimes you make mistakes, sometimes it goes well for you, but the commitment is not an issue.”
There is a line in that answer that tells you everything about where United are right now. Carrick is not pretending everything is fine. He is simply refusing to turn one defender’s week into some grand psychological drama. He cannot see the future, he said, and he does not know what will happen next. But he also made clear that it does not alter how the team is preparing for Roma.
That is the dilemma with this United side. The noise keeps growing, but the football keeps demanding attention. Lisandro Martínez may have made life harder for himself by getting sent off at Stamford Bridge, yet Carrick’s public stance suggests he is still trusted to keep his place. The manager is trying to separate discipline from desire, and in this case that separation is important. United do not need a loyalty inquest. They need results.
Two games, no margin for error
Carrick admitted the mood is strange, even if he is staying focused. “You might think I’m crazy with the results we’ve had and what’s going on, but I genuinely can’t wait for the game tomorrow and that’s all I’m focused on,” he said. That is the tone of a manager trying to block out the chaos and keep the football clean.
Kobbie Mainoo, meanwhile, put the fan side of the story into plain language. In tough times, he said, you cannot expect the supporters to be happy and cheering every minute when the results are not there. United owe them results. They owe them something to sing about again. And if they are going to do that, they need more than speeches about commitment. They need control, discipline and a performance that does not collapse under pressure.
Martínez is part of that picture, not the whole problem. But his situation is a reminder that United are constantly living on the edge of the next setback. Roma away on Tuesday, Aston Villa on Sunday, and a season already drifting into crisis territory. Carrick may not be concerned about commitment. Fair enough. The more urgent concern is whether Manchester United can turn that commitment into a result before this run becomes something far uglier.
