Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Michael Carrick felt the brunt of the referee’s howlers in the loss against Manchester City, now he needs to ensure he doesn’t repeat what happened to Erik ten Hag.
Poor referee decisions have gone hand-in-hand with Man Utd for the longest time, but even by those standards, a line has been crossed.
The way VAR overturned a correct call on the pitch in the most blatant manner is enough to feel like a gut punch for Michael Carrick.
If Erik ten Hag was watching this game, he’d have a feeling of deja vu because he spiralled next.
Manchester United v Manchester City - Premier League 2026/27
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Erik ten Hag’s campaign was derailed by the referees
Before going into details, it must be noted that this writer is not arguing that a single game or a refereeing decision was fully responsible for Ten Hag’s time derailing.
However, there are certain inflexion points in the season which are the difference between success and failure.
Think back to the first game of the last season against Arsenal, when United dominated but lost. Ruben Amorim’s first full season as manager could have flown out of the blocks had United won it.
Something similar happened to Erik ten Hag in September 2023, when he took his United side to visit Arsenal early in the campaign.
They had won two of their first three games, so things were far from dire, and a win at the Emirates Stadium could have filled everyone with confidence as Ten Hag had got United playing well the season before as well.
United were well worth a point as the game was 1-1 deep into injury time, before two sucker punches derailed that result.
Ten Hag came firing after the game, arguing that United should have had a penalty in that game, a goal for Garnacho was wrongly ruled offside, and Declan Rice’s late goal should have been ruled out due to a foul in the box.
All those decisions went against United in that game as Arsenal emerged 3-1 victors. Ten Hag argued that his team were not bad, but results overwhelmed him, and he spiralled.
Michael Carrick needs to arrest the slump
Carrick was similarly done hard by the referees in the derby loss, and he made the same point as Ten Hag afterwards.
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The error in this case was so egregious that he received an apology less than three hours after the game, but that doesn’t change anything.
The narrative is set that United have four points from four games, and Carrick continues to argue that the team actually aren’t doing badly at all.
Ultimately, the results are everything, and when a point is taken from you in such a manner, it is gut-wrenching.
The players start giving up and feeling sorry for themselves, resulting in a vicious cycle where the performance levels drop as a result.
Carrick needs to ensure that he doesn’t get into that spiral which ended with Ten Hag’s sacking. An apology from the referees is not enough.