For a decade and more, Manchester United had a player who could be sent out after a defeat to do a host of interviews, safe in the knowledge he would say nothing controversial or, at times, remotely memorable. That player, of course, was Michael Carrick.
So when there was an explosive assessment of United following Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid, it did not come from Carrick himself. Nevertheless, the manager had to deal with the fallout of Lisandro Martinez’s outburst at the Metropolitano. Talks at Carrington on Thursday were more conciliatory, the defender meeting Carrick and the United powerbrokers – including Jason Wilcox, the target of his criticisms about a lack of recruitment – and issuing a public apology, even if it seemed to be more for when and how he said it that the actual substance of his comments.
