Paul Scholes has stated he will not apologise for mocking Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez, as the ongoing war of words between them continues.
Scholes and his former United teammate Nicky Butt had joked on their podcast ahead of United’s derby win that Martinez’s contest with Erling Haaland was such a mismatch that the Man City striker would “pick up Martinez and throw him in the back of the net.”
However, 5ft 9in Martinez played a key role in keeping 6ft 5in Haaland quiet during United’s 2-0 victory, after which the Argentine defender challenged the pair to visit his house and repeat their comments face-to-face.
Butt did nothing to calm tensions, telling Martinez to “f***ing grow up” on Monday’s episode of their show.
Now Scholes has said he will not apologise, urging Martinez to accept the criticism that comes with being a Manchester United player.
“What we said probably wasn’t great when you look back. I’m not apologising for it though,” Scholes said on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
“The thing we were trying to say was what we thought. Physically, it’s a mismatch [between Martínez and Haaland], but the way we described it wasn’t great and we probably shouldn’t have done that, but it was. He’s had one good game though. I hope to god he proves me wrong but look at the week before against Brighton and Danny Welbeck, or the week before that against Burnley.”
Scholes also rejected claims that he and Butt had contributed to a “toxic” narrative around United.
“A lot of people have labelled that at me and Nicky [Butt] for the last few days,” he said. “It’s not something we like doing, we want to see the team winning every single week. When I played and when Jamie [Carragher] played, you did get a bit of criticism. It’s more so now than it ever has been that people are speaking their mind, and you’ve got to deal with it. You’re at one of the biggest clubs in the world, and you are going to take a little bit of criticism at the time, especially when it’s not going as well as it could do.”
After keeping a clean sheet against City, Martinez told reporters he was unbothered by the podcast comments and invited them to repeat the remarks to him directly:
“Honestly, [Scholes] can say whatever he wants. I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to me wherever he wants. To my house, wherever. I don’t care. I respect 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.”
On the podcast, Butt had joked: “Haaland would pick Martinez up and run with him. It’ll be like, you know, when you see a dad after school running down the road with a little toddler. That’s what it’d be like.” Scholes added: “He’d score, then throw him in the net!”
Addressing the feud, Butt described Martinez as “precious” and said: “For me, we talk like lads in a pub having a conversation. It’s tongue in cheek. I think when people get so upset about someone in the media or on a podcast … saying ‘come to my house’, it’s like f*ing grow up. If you’re going to get so emotional about someone saying something about you and react like that, you shouldn’t be at a big football club. I’m telling you now he’s gonna get that for the rest of his career at Man United. You’re going to get your ups, you’re going to get your downs. I got so much cp when I played at Man United and Newcastle but then the next week you get applauded.”
Scholes revealed that he and Martinez had exchanged messages on Instagram previously, where Martinez said he had “lost all respect” for Scholes.
“We exchanged messages on Instagram quite some time ago. He wasn’t happy with something I said in the past. It wouldn’t have said this normally but he’s come out and said stuff so why not. He said he’d lost all kinds of respect for me. As Nicky said two minutes ago, you’re at Man United, probably the biggest club in the world. At some point, as we did as players, you are gonna take some criticism. You’ve got to deal with that. He’s had one brilliant game. When you start talking or shouting your mouth off, this game has a habit of coming and biting you back on the ae. I haven’t changed my opinion yet. I’m still not sure that you can win a league with him. He’s got to do it over a period of time. What he did on Saturday was brilliant, yes, but you’ve got to do that now over a period of time to show you can win the league. They’ve got a big game at Arsenal on Sunday, so let’s see what happens.”**
Scholes also mentioned he had previously shared his phone number with Martinez but has not been contacted following the defender’s challenge. Butt added:
“I’m 50 years of age, I’m not going knocking on someone’s house saying ‘can we have a chat’. It’s just ridiculous… and if you’re going to get that precious you better be st hot every week.”**