Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Michael Carrick’s decision to snub Shea Lacey vs Fulham is in focus, but the hypocrisy was already clear with another snub before kick-off.
The mood among Man Utd fans going into the international break is sour, and Michael Carrick is facing the brunt of it, deservedly or undeservedly.
The board definitely didn’t back him enough, but he is not helping himself with some of the decisions he’s made with his tactics, team selection, or press conferences.
Snubbing Shea Lacey vs Fulham was a huge error, but the tone was set even before kick-off due to another snub.
Michael Carrick snubbed Ayden Heaven entirely
It is clear that some players have more room for error in Carrick’s mind than others, who are simply one poor performance away from being snubbed.
Carrick’s relationship with Ayden Heaven gives off the same vibe, where he is always reluctant to trust the youngster, and the player always seems to be in “prove it” mode.
Each good performance needs to be followed by another, and even that is sometimes not enough if Carrick has Lisandro Martinez fit and firing.
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On the other hand, a single poor performance, which hasn’t been many, saw Heaven get removed from the squad altogether for the trip to Fulham.
Heaven struggled against Brighton, but it wasn’t like he was a pain point in a team full of superstars. If anything, Harry Maguire and Martinez’s performances this season prove that the issue with United’s defence is structural more than personnel-based.
Regardless, when Carlos Baleba returned to the matchday squad, it was Heaven who made way for him, despite being the only left-footed defender on the bench.
In Carrick’s mind, Heaven is always one bad performance away from being banished, while someone like Marcus Rashford will have his unconditional backing regardless of form or fitness.
There is no meritocracy. There is simply a group of players Carrick trusts blindly, and another group he is not comfortable trusting. That hypocrisy became exposed when he snubbed Lacey during the game, but as Heaven, and he’ll say that it was already clear before a ball was kicked vs Fulham.