There are plenty of negatives to take from Manchester United’s worrying 2-1 defeat to Leeds United on Monday night, with Michael Carrick not immune from criticism.
It was a night for Old Trafford to forget, losing 2-1 to local rivals Leeds at home for the first time in a generation and the fault lies at the feet of several factors.
Manchester United had several poor performers in the defeat, with the performance in the first-half utterly woeful.
Michael Carrick blamed the officiating, but while the referee and VAR probably did cost United a point, the United interim head coach must acknowledge his own failures.
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Michael Carrick’s indecision to make a substitute proves costly for Manchester United
Despite the extenuating circumstances of United being hard done by through poor officiating, Carrick didn’t do himself any favours.
United’s worst performers in the first-half were Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte, with both struggling to match the pace of the game and failing to replace the players they came in for.
Both were clearly off the pace and shouldn’t have made it past the 30th minute, let alone lasting until the 70th minute in Mazraoui’s case and then Ugarte playing the full game.
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Both proved costly, yet despite it being obvious they needed to be withdrawn, Carrick failed to act with no substitute until the 70th minute, persisting with a team that was failing and Leeds had a real handle on.
The hesitation from Carrick to make a change proved costly both against Leeds and throughout his career as a manager as it continues to be his biggest weakness.
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Michael Carrick in suit for Manchester United
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Michael Carrick also had this weakness at Middlesbrough
While Carrick did a brilliant job at Middlesbrough, the biggest criticism that fans had from his reign was how long he took to make changes.
When things are going wrong, Carrick’s reluctance to switch things up was clear and it persists until now as he has shown the same weakness for United.
Carrick’s lack of pro-activeness is a massive concern, because it cost United points against Leeds, who were poor in the second-half.
Prior to going down to 10 men, Carrick and United had a real chance to get back into the game, but somehow the poorest performers weren’t withdrawn, with players like Shea Lacey and Mason Mount on the bench offering United more.
The manager of United cannot be afraid to make in game changes, so Carrick needs to end this flaw immediately otherwise there is a risk he lets the permanent role slip from his fingers.
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