Lisandro Martinez tells Paul Scholes ‘come to my house’ in Man Utd row | Football | Sport

Lisandro Martinez has hit back at criticism from Manchester United legends Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, telling them they can “come to his house” if they “want to say something” to him. The Argentine defender was questioned by the former Red Devils duo ahead of the Manchester derby, but responded with an outstanding performance to help secure a clean sheet against Manchester City.

On The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Butt expressed concerns about United’s younger players facing Erling Haaland in the derby. Scholes chimed in, mentioning “Martinez against Haaland,” whilst grimacing. Butt replied: “Haaland would pick Martinez up and run with him. You know when you see a dad at school running down the road with a little toddler?” Scholes added: “He’d score, then throw him in the net.”

However, City managed just a single shot on target at Old Trafford, with Martinez producing a commanding display alongside Harry Maguire to neutralise the threats of Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Jeremy Doku.

After the final whistle at Old Trafford, Martinez addressed the media and was questioned about Butt and Scholes’ remarks. “Honestly, he [Scholes] can say whatever he wants. I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to wherever he wants,” he said.

“To my house, wherever. I don’t care. And I think, for me, I respect the relations when they want to help the club because everyone can talk on the television. But when you sit 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 such remarks serve as fuel for his fire, Martinez responded matter-of-factly: “No, nothing. It doesn’t give me anything. My motivation is my family. That’s it.”

Michael Carrick enjoyed a superb beginning to his interim tenure following his appointment on Tuesday, with Martinez praising the ex-midfielder for reminding the squad what wearing the United shirt truly represents.

“So different, so different,” Martinez remarked about the training sessions under Carrick’s stewardship. “Different mentality, different guy. He knows what it really means, this club.

“He sent us that message that he played here for a long, long time. He won everything. He’s 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.

“I think we deserve to win. We were better on the pitch and I think we gave everything today. And when you give everything and you see the result, it’s an amazing feeling. I’m so happy today.”

Carrick lauded both Martinez and Maguire for establishing a rock-solid defensive base during his post-match briefing. Speaking about Maguire, Martinez revealed: “I’ve known him for a long time and we speak a lot.

“Today we had really good communication on the pitch – but not just only with H. 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.”

The Argentine defender also felt the squad’s battling spirit lifted the crowd. “It’s about the connection. It’s about how we represent them on the pitch. If they see us fighting like today, they will be with us,” he explained.

“But if sometimes our performance wasn’t the best because they expect from us a good attitude, tackles, the DNA, the blood of Manchester United. And I can really understand because sometimes it’s like, what are we doing here? And today is the standard for this club.

“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 today that, and I think they don’t have a shot at the goal today. One shot, well, just one. And you can feel the mentality. You can feel something different. I’m happy with that.”