'I question his timing' - Paul Robinson admits he 'actually quite likes' Lisandro Martinez's honesty despite defender's outburst at Man Utd chiefs after Atletico Madrid defeat

The former England goalkeeper admitted he rather liked the Argentine defender's openness, even while questioning the timing behind his public criticism of the Red Devils' hierarchy. The turmoil erupted after the visitors suffered a 2-0 defeat in the Spanish capital, undone by Pablo Barrios' early strike after just 47 seconds and a late sealer from Ademola Lookman, which was further compounded by Leny Yoro's red card.

The defeat, making them the first English side to fall in the Champions League this season, also extended the club's winless streak to five matches across all competitions.

Robinson believes the 28-year-old's honesty voiced the genuine frustration of the supporters, offering a welcome change from standard dressing-room clichés during a wretched run of form that has left the team languishing in 13th place in the Premier League table. He also agreed that the club's £192 million summer spend on Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans, and Andrey Santos had failed to make the squad sufficiently competitive.

Responding to the centre-back's scathing post-match comments in Madrid, Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I question his timing, the noise around Manchester United at the moment, positivity needs to come out of the dressing room. But on the flip side of that I actually quite like it - a player being honest, every Manchester United fan across the country doesn't need their players coming out saying 'we're doing ok, the squad's strong enough'.

"Everyone can see they didn't recruit well enough and they need more players and the squad's not strong enough."

The fiery critique emerged after Martinez publicly slammed technical director Jason Wilcox for failing to build upon the hard-won foundations laid to return the club to Europe's elite stage this season.

Expressing his frustration over the executive team's transfer strategy, Martinez had earlier told Amazon Prime: "I have to control myself a lot. But sometimes it's a reflection in the mirror of how is our club at the moment.

"We did a fantastic season last season. And now we expect more from the top, from up, to bring more players to compete because many teams bring many players as well, and today also Atletico they have an amazing team and they deserved to win today.

"I expect more from our technical director. I would have to be honest, as the players, we have to do more, but it's just important when you make a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night."

Lamenting the loss of last season's momentum while dismissing the idea that sacking the manager is a quick fix, Martinez added: "Last season we did everything, we create the base to be an amazing team. It's annoying, disappointing to come here and I'm not seeing my team trying to get an amazing result here, it's disappointing.

"You start changing, changing, changing manager. But what about other areas? I can't say more."

Internal turmoil has only heightened the pressure on Michael Carrick ahead of a fiery trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United. With just a single domestic win under his belt, the United boss is presiding over the club's worst start to a league season in 40 years. Following costly misses from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes in Madrid, Carrick must sharpen his attack and restore order in the dressing room if he is to hold onto his job.