Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes are the latest club legends to be called out by Manchester United fans after ridiculing one of their former club’s players. The longtime teammates previewed the Manchester Derby between their former club and Manchester City on Saturday (January 17th).
United head into that game following a frustrating 2-1 home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, which sent them packing from the FA Cup. They face a City side chasing the Premier League title and an Erling Haaland who has been in red-hot form.
The Norwegian striker is running away with the Golden Boot and currently sits on 20 goals in 21 league games. Michael Carrick will be taking charge of his first game as interim coach and will task his defenders with keeping the Cityzens’ frontman quiet.
Butt and Scholes Joke About ‘Little Toddler’ Lisandro Martinez
Haaland is likely to come up against Lisandro Martinez, who has recently returned from injury and has been a regular starter. The Argentine defender put in a disappointing display against Brighton, with question marks over his defending for the Seagulls’ opener.
The United legends’ mockery of Martinez didn’t stem from his defending ability but rather his size. They laughed at the thought of Haaland battling it out with United’s ‘Butcher’ at the Etihad.
Butt took a brutal dig at the size difference and how Haaland will carry the 27-year-old. He said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast: “Haaland would pick (Lisandro) Martinez up and run with him.”
The former United midfielder continued: “It would be like you know when you see a dad at school, running down the road with a little toddler.”
Scholes had joked: “He’d score then throw him in the net.”
Their comments came after agreeing that United only had a chance against City if they had players like Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt available. Martinez’s height (five-foot-nine-inches) has been a hot topic of debate ever since the Argentine arrived at Old Trafford back in the summer of 2022.
Man Utd Fans Furious With ‘Pathetic’ Butt and Scholes
It didn’t take long for United fans to hit out at the duo and defend Martinez, who has faced the six-foot-five-inch Haaland six times during his career. They particularly point to his performance in Ajax’s 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the 2021-22 Champions League group stages.
One fan alluded to this when calling Butt and Scholes’ analysis lazy: “Martinez has an excellent record against Haaland both for United and Ajax. When pundits get accused of being lazy, it’s often just code for somebody disagreeing with them. In this case this is just stupidly lazy.”
Martinez did play in the United side that were beaten 6-3 back in the 2022-23 campaign but one supporter wasn’t having their club icons taking aim at a current player: “This is so bad coming from the so called legends, how do you mock a player like this, and even laughing about it, it’s a big shame.”
Another fan pointed out Haaland’s record against Martinez: “Bit of a disaster this, given Haaland has only scored once in 5/6 games against Martinez.”
Butt was particularly put on blast for his assessment, which another fan suggested he hadn’t watched the 2024 FA Cup final: “Butt is aware Haaland has played against Martinez multiple times, including in the FA Cup final, where Martinez pocketed him? See this is where I understand the frustration from the players about legends of the club talking down on them. Saying this just before the derby as well???”
It’s become a recurring theme for former United players to criticise the current squad and one fan isn’t amused: “I really don’t like the approach almost all United legends take in the media. They know the pressures of playing for United, but yet continue to pile on them at all times. Never any understanding, never any protection. Just digging them out constantly.”
One supporter labelled their jesting ‘pathetic’ in a tirade: “Pathetic from Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes. THIS is not constructive criticism. It’s not even criticism. It’s pointlessly jabbing at one of United’s most important players ahead of a huge game on Saturday.”
Butt and Scholes aren’t the only members of one of United’s most successful periods who have been questioned for their treatment of the current playing squad. Some of the Old Trafford faithful have hit out at Gary Neville’s commentary, claiming he has an agenda against Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko.
Carrick has replaced Ruben Amorim, who was sacked at the start of January after indirect comments about his relationship with the board. He suggested they could not handle listening to Neville’s criticism in a fiery press conference that made clear he was unhappy.
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