After Manchester United’s 2-0 loss at Atlético Madrid, Lisandro Martínez teed off at the director of football, Jason Wilcox, and the rest of the executive. I expect more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox] … Really poor [the Atlético defeat] – I have to control myself a lot but something is a reflection of the mirror of how our club is at the moment.” Here we consider the key questions emerging from Martínez’s explosive remarks. The Guardian has been told the decision to target three midfielders in Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba caused bemusement in the squad that no other areas were strengthened in the summer.
Carrick led United to third last term after the side only had 17 league games remaining when he took over in January, having been eliminated from the other competitions. The need for defensive reinforcements is particularly acute because the back four of Diogo Dalot, Martínez, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw has been together since 2022. Martínez is out of contract next summer and it is thought the 28-year-old may not be offered a new deal or have his one-year option triggered by the club, so teammates are conscious his outburst also came because he expects to leave.
As United’s director of football the 55-year-old wields near-unilateral power on football decisions, with only Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls sporting policy, above him. If the buck stops with the executive, the most recent transfer window was Wilcox’s responsibility. This was the latest in a line of missteps on his United record.
One concerns when Dan Ashworth (Wilcox’s predecessor) was on gardening leave from Newcastle in the first half of 2024, Wilcox interviewed potential replacements for Erik ten Hag before, oddly, deeming that the head coach should stay. The Dutchman signed a fresh contract but was sacked that autumn. Another involves Wilcox’s major falling out with the man he hired as the Dutchman’s successor, Ruben Amorim, after which the Portuguese said the director of football had told him he should change his favoured 3-4-3 shape.
He was sacked the next day. Wilcox worked with Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, at Manchester City, where Berrada rose to become chief football operations officer, and Wilcox became academy director. Wilcox moved to Southampton and became director of football from summer 2023 until April 2024, when he joined United, having been identified by Berrada, so there is scrutiny of his experience at elite level.
The 45-year-old’s ability to prosper is related to the quality of Wilcox’s work, primarily in the market, so he cannot be solely responsible for a dire six points from six league games and two victories in all competitions all season. Yet by definition his role as head coach demands Carrick do the best with his resources, and that progress is made on the training ground. On matchdays there is scant excuse for United’s disjointedness, inferior running stats and inability, twice, to take advantage against 10 men: the 1-0 loss to City and Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
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