Carragher dismantles two Man Utd players with ‘no quality’, and it’s Carrick’s fault
Jamie Carragher believes Michael Carrick cost Manchester United in the derby, with the manager’s tactical change exposing two players who are sorely lacking in quality.
Man Utd fell to bitter rivals Manchester City on home soil on Sunday, with Erling Haaland’s controversial winner proving the difference.
The Red Devils had a man-advantage for the bulk of the contest following Phil Foden’s red card. Yet according to Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Carragher, United boss Carrick scored an own goal that nullified the upper hand.
Mid-way through the second half, Carrick brought Benjamin Sesko on to replace Youri Tielemans. Sesko led the line, and the removal of Tielemans from central midfield saw captain Bruno Fernandes dropping from the No 10 position into the engine room.
The end result was the ball falling to the feet of full-back pair, Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu, when United pushed for an equaliser late on.
When the ball found its way into the middle, Fernandes was often 10-15 yards behind the play and rarely involved.
Bizarrely, he was often seen man-marking Erling Haaland as the two deepest outfield players on the pitch.
When analysing two late passages of play on Monday Night Football, Carragher pointed the finger of blame for Man Utd’s loss at Carrick, with his tactical tweaks ensuring Dalot and Dorgu – who both sorely lack quality in Carragher’s eyes – were responsible for breaking City down and not Fernandes.
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Carrick to blame for Dalot, Dorgu disasters – Carragher
Carragher explained: “The best player in the Premier League, the best player by a mile in Manchester United’s team is Bruno Fernandes. Where is Bruno Fernandes?
“He’s marking Erling Haaland. This is in the 88th minute. Michael Carrick wouldn’t have wanted that. But the point being is because he made that tactical decision to put him in central midfield, he’s ended up there because Bruno likes to get involved in everything, and again we saw poor quality from Dorgu.
“Now a few minutes later, the ball now comes to the right side and we’ve seen Dorgu with poor quality, he’s about to put the ball in, 90 plus two minutes, Manchester Derby, three minutes to go, 1-0 down against 10 men… Bruno Fernandes is here marking Erling Haaland, the deepest player twice in two attacks going forward than any other Manchester United player there.
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“And again you’re leaving the ball with a guy [Dalot] who’s got no quality and the best player in the Premier League looking after Haaland.
“What happens? Ball comes in [from Dalot], misses completely the back post.”
