Carrick: Manchester United have moved past the Martinez crisis, and the mood inside the squad is excellent
A decisive decision ends the tension
Michael Carrick has confirmed Manchester United have moved on from the crisis sparked by Lisandro Martinez's explosive comments about the club's officials, stressing that the incident has not affected the mood around the team and that his players are in excellent spirits ahead of Sunday's meeting with Leeds United.
The row erupted after a television interview Martinez gave following United's 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
According to the British newspaper the Daily Mail, Martinez used the interview to accuse Manchester United's hierarchy at Old Trafford, and director of football Jason Wilcox, of failing in the transfer market last summer. Reports suggest a number of the team's prominent players share that view.
Those remarks caused widespread controversy. The Argentine defender apologised on Thursday and was fined.
Speaking on Friday, ahead of the trip to face Leeds on Sunday, Carrick faced questions about the fallout and what had happened inside the club.
Carrick said: "It is already over, and we have moved past this matter as a group, because it is not a crisis. Someone might say something he should not have said, but that does not distract us from what we are building here, and it does not affect the spirit within the group."
He added: "The players trained extremely well and their morale was high during training. The team's situation today was superb, in fact it was the best I have seen for some time."
Martinez knows he made a mistake, Carrick explained, and the atmosphere within the squad remains very positive.
On Thursday evening, the defender posted a message on social media in which he apologised following talks with Manchester United officials.
Carrick returned to the subject of the incident, saying: "I think he put out his statement and realised his mistake, and that is enough for all of us. From our point of view, his acknowledgement of the mistake is enough."
He added: "From the outside, some people are waiting to get big information about important discussions, but it was all very simple. We all understood the situation and what it meant, Martinez released his statement and admitted that he had made a mistake, and that was the end of it."
The Manchester United manager continued: "In terms of results, things have not gone the way we wanted recently, but the spirit and the togetherness among the players are still there. I have said this before, but today's session was among the best training sessions we have had, and you can see there is a real feeling within the group that we want to change this situation, and that we want to do it quickly."
He went on: "We understand the situation that arose after the match, but we feel it has been dealt with and that we have moved on from it."
He concluded: "We have already moved past it, and there is a sense of freshness within the group today, which I liked a lot."
Martinez, Carrick confirmed, will be in the squad at Leeds.
