Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have praised Lisandro Martinez’s “brilliant” display for Manchester United in Saturday’s derby win over rivals City but warned the Argentinian he must be able to deal with criticism after he took exception to their comments ahead of the match.
After playing his part in United’s 2-0 win over City at Old Trafford, Martinez challenged Scholes to speak to him face-to-face after he and Butt had mocked the defender’s size before his battle with Erling Haaland, suggesting the Norwegian would “pick him up and run with him”.
Scholes and Butt addressed Martinez’s comments in the latest episode of their podcast The Good, The Bad and The Football on Monday, with both former players saying their initial comments had been “tongue-in-cheek”.
🗣️ "We exchanged messages on Instagram… I sent him my phone number, I've not heard anything from him!"
Paul Scholes & Nicky Butt break their silence on the Lisandro Martinez controversy! 👀 pic.twitter.com/kvNQAE491Y
— The Good, The Bad & The Football (@goodbadftblpod) January 19, 2026
Butt said: “First and foremost he was brilliant on the day, and fair play to him, he’s gone out man-to-man against the best centre-forward in the world, him and Harry (Maguire) to be fair and they were brilliant.
“So we’ll come on here now and say brilliant, but that’s what’s to be expected for a Manchester United player on derby day.”
Scholes also praised Martinez’s display but said he still has some doubts about the 28-year-old.
“It fuels people,” he said of criticism. “I think we have to take a bit of the credit for Martinez’s performance on Saturday!”
But he then warned: “He’s had one brilliant game, but when you start talking and shouting your mouth off, this game has a habit of coming and biting you back on the a**e.
“I haven’t changed my opinion yet. I’m still not sure you can win a league with him. He’s got to do it over a period of time. What he did on Saturday, brilliant, but you’ve got to do it over a period of time.”
Scholes said he had previously exchanged messages with Martinez on social media and given the player his phone number but had “not heard anything”.
Butt said Martinez’s reaction to their comments raised questions about his mentality.
“It’s tongue-in-cheek, it’s obvious Haaland isn’t actually going to pick him up and run with him, it’s a figure of speech,” he said. “I think when someone gets so upset about something in the media or a podcast…to come out and say, ‘Come over to my house’, f****** grow up.
“Literally, if you’re going to get so emotional about someone saying something about you, you shouldn’t be at a big football club because you’ll get that for the rest of your career at Man United.
“I got so much crap when I played at United and Newcastle, but the next week you get plaudits and clapped at. There’s no personal issue with us and Martinez, none.”
Butt pointed to the experience that he and the rest of United’s ‘Class of 92’ had when Alan Hansen famously said on Match of the Day “you can’t win anything with kids”. A teenager at the time, Butt said that taught him to deal with criticism.
“I was 18, not 26 or 27,” he said. “I didn’t want to go out of the house for weeks, but you man up and go and prove people wrong.”
