Lisandro Mart\u00ednez has moved to explain the comments he made immediately after Manchester United\u2019s Champions League defeat to Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, saying his message was always about the need to go on together with belief and discipline.<\/p>\n
In a written Instagram story, the defender said his remarks came from \u201canger and frustration\u201d after a disappointing result. He insisted the reaction should not be taken as a rejection of the dressing room or the club\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who know me know how I live football, with passion, commitment and a huge desire to win. And when things don\u2019t go our way, it hurts, especially when representing a club with the history and stature of Manchester United ,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mart\u00ednez added that his words were driven by his standards and the expectation that comes with the badge. \u201cMy words reflect how I feel and how much I want to see this club competing for the biggest honors. Those high standards are part of how I see football and the responsibility that comes with wearing this shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2022 World Cup winner also said \u201cwanting more\u201d means accepting the \u201cambition we must all have as part of this club. To keep growing, to become stronger and to have everything we need to compete at the highest level. These are standards we must all hold ourselves to, starting with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mart\u00ednez then addressed the broader state of the squad, saying: \u201cI know that, first and foremost, it\u2019s us, the players, who have to deliver, and I put myself at the front of that responsibility. We need to demand even more of ourselves and work together to take Manchester United back to the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in my teammates, our manager and everyone working to help this club move forward. I\u2019m convinced that the way forward is to keep working together, with ambition and commitment. My goal has been the same since day one, to win, to compete at the highest level and to give everything I have for this badge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defender\u2019s future remains uncertain. His contract expires next summer, though it includes an option for another 12 months until 2028. The Athletic says he does not want an extension beyond this season and would still prefer a move to Spain after an unfulfilled desire to join Atl\u00e9tico Madrid in the summer. United are said to have similar doubts, while his camp insists the latest comments were not intended to force a departure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mart\u00ednez explains his post-defeat remarks, stressing unity, ambition and responsibility at United.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,2019],"tags":[1047,180],"class_list":["post-21776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-manchester-united-news","tag-champions-league","tag-player-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}