Perhaps that was the reason why we were crap? We don’t usually play on a Saturday so maybe the players were off for that reason 😅.
Good lord that was a waste of time. What the bloody hell was THAT?!
Arguably the worst performance of the season let alone under Carrick. The problem is though, I don’t think that’s any different to what we’ve seen under Carrick in his six months.
The difference was there was no individual or moment to bail him out.
Bruno was out of the game, Cunha was poor, Maguire didn’t score a header, Mainoo was not involved enough, and without Casemiro, we looked completely lost.
Others such as Amad, Mount, Zirkzee didn’t take their chance and also the drop off from the first team to the second is incredible 😳. And it ain’t as if the first team are amazing.
Look, there’s not much to report from this game in terms of a reaction. We were shit, did nothing, relied on Lammens to make a couple of important saves, Sunderland hit the post, and the only shot we had on target was from Cunha in injury time.
You didn’t miss much.
Beyond that though, there is A LOT!
And most of it on the manager.
We know these players are capable of switching off and downing tools. They have to look at themselves first and when you hear what Carrick said in his presser regarding pride and responsibility, the players clearly didn’t listen to that.
That reflects badly on him as a manager.
But it’s unsurprising as we’ve seen it many times before.
And it shouldn’t be surprising to Carrick either. He’s seen this before. First hand.
For the manager however, he didn’t do anything to affect or influence that game. The only thing he did ‘differently’ was bring on Dorgu for Zirkzee and out Cunha up front. But that isn’t something new as this is what he was doing from the start.
Other than that, he didn’t bring on a youngster just to give us some excitement because we love to see an academy product. And there were certainly opportunities there to do so.
Mount was poor so he could’ve come off for either of the Fletcher brothers. People were calling even before the game to use Martinez next to Mainoo because of the absences of Casemiro and Ugarte instead of Mount. Why not try it?
There was no tactical switch as we played flat and on the counter all game whilst waiting for our moment. This was another game where we had less than 50% possession (49%).
Many, including myself, were questioning why Heaven didn’t start. He has been superb recently yet as soon as a senior player is available, Martinez comes straight back in for Heaven.
What does that say to the youngster? What does that do for his confidence? What does that tell us about Carrick as manager?
In a weird way though, this game was a blessing in disguise because it gave us a clear view of what is wrong with this team and manager.
But only if the club see it that way.
And I don’t trust the club.
I know that this result didn’t harm us. We didn’t lose. UCL football is still there. And we will finish 3rd as that gap to 4th is still 6 points.
The wider picture however, paints a very different story.
Ratings
Lammens - 7 MOTM
Mazraoui - 5.5
Maguire - 5
Martinez - 5
Shaw - 5.5
Mainoo - 5.5
Mount - 4.5
Amad - 4.5
Bruno - 5.5
Cunha - 5
Zirkzee - 5
Dorgu - 5.5
Mbeumo - 5
Carrick - 4
Senne Lammens was Man Utd's man of the match in 0-0 draw with Sunderland | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)