Lisandro Martinez hits back at Butt and Scholes
Lisandro Martinez has hit back at Manchester United icons Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes after their criticism of him, saying they would never repeat those comments to his face.
Speaking during an appearance on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast ahead of Sunday's derby clash with Manchester City, Scholes and Butt were scathing in their evaluation of Martinez.
Butt compared the Argentine to "a little toddler" and said City striker Erling Haaland would "pick him up and run with him", while Scholes predicted the Norwegian would score before "throwing him in the net".
As it was, Martinez helped Michael Carrick's side to a memorable 2-0 win in which Haaland was a non-factor.
The Premier League's leading scorer was limited to just 14 touches, with only two coming in the United penalty area.
He has gone seven straight games without scoring a non-penalty goal, with this his worst such run while playing for a team in Europe's top five leagues (City or Borussia Dortmund).
Asked about the comments made by Butt and Scholes after the Manchestere derby, Martinez said: "Honestly, he can say whatever he wants. I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to wherever he wants. 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 see them 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."
There was a raucous atmosphere at Old Trafford for the game, with United having now inflicted 10 defeats on Pep Guardiola during his managerial career – the joint-most of any club (also Tottenham and Liverpool).
"It is about the connection," Martinez said of United's fans. "It's about how we represent them on the pitch. If they see us fighting like [that], they will be with us.
"If sometimes our performance wasn't the best, because they expect a good attitude from us, tackles, the DNA, the blood of Manchester United.
"And I can really understand because sometimes it's like 'what are we doing here?'"
