Man Utd: Dalot blames Carrick tactics for first-half display vs Roma – ‘Yes, obviously’
Diogo Dalot says it was “obviously” Michael Carrick’s tactics which saw Manchester United cut open in the first half of their Champions League victory over Roma.
Matias Soule gave Roma the lead as a cross field ball sailed over the head of Ayden Heaven and found him in an absurd gap behind Dalot, before Soule enjoyed similar space to double Roma’s lead, with a scuffed clearance from Harry Maguire and a Heaven handball allowing Donyell Malen to score from the spot.
Bruno Fernandes gave Man Utd hope from the spot after the break before Matheus Cunha scored a late brace to secure a dramatic comeback victory.
Dalot was questioned about Carrick facing pressure for his future at the club and whether the squad remained supportive of the manager.
“Not just the manager, everyone is under pressure,” he replied. “I mean, when you don’t win games for this football club, every moment, every person, everyone involved gets under pressure.
“And we felt it obviously, because we’re not near good enough of what we should have done. And like I said, nights like this can change momentum, can change seasons, and I think this win is going to give us confidence for the next games.”
But the Portuguese full-back then confirmed that he was caught out of position for Roma’s two goals under instruction from Carrick.
“Yes, obviously,” he confirmed when questioned if he was asked to push forward. “We knew that they were going to play man-to-man, but that requires some things that we need to avoid, especially losing balls in the middle, because we knew that we’re going to be too open.
“But after, obviously, after the second goal, we tried to fix it straight away. I think we balanced a little bit more the game and kept ourselves in the game, and I think second half we came right at it and won the game.
Discussing the match, Dalot added: “I think [it was] a really good second half. I think we came with the right attitude.
“I think we did pretty much everything that we needed to do to turn the game on, and I mean, it’s moments like this, it’s nights like this that can change momentum, and hopefully we can change ours.”
Dalot also acknowledged that United’s woeful spell has been difficult for the squad.
“These moments are really tough, I’m not going to lie,” he revealed. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a few moments like this in the past, and the only way for us to get out is by winning football games.
“I think that’s the only way you can get confidence. And nights like this, like I’ve said, give you an extra confidence that make you believe that you can create these moments, not just for us, but for the fans.
“And it’s important from everyone around the club feeling that we care, that we want to turn this around, and I think we’ve showed, especially in the second 45 minutes, that we really want to turn this around.”
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