Michael Carrick’s Man Utd remain stuck in purgatory as a poor performance was salvaged by a Matheus Cunha goal vs Fulham.
The 1-1 draw against Fulham ensured that Michael Carrick doesn’t go into the international break on the back of three consecutive defeats.
However, the performance more than merited it, as the lack of energy and passivity was mind-boggling to watch.
Ultimately, Matheus Cunha rescued a point, but even that was a damning look for Carrick as it exposed his poor decision-making at the worst possible time.
Matheus Cunha shone off the left vs Fulham
It’s a decision Man Utd fans have been begging Carrick to make, and he finally did it entirely because he was forced to do so. Matheus Cunha was finally back on the left wing late on vs Fulham.
Marcus Rashford felt something in his groin and came off, forcing Carrick to put Cunha on the LW, with Mbeumo and Zirkzee completing the attacking trio.
Almost immediately, the Brazilian looked liberated with space to play in, and his runs on and off the ball became a nightmare for Fulham to deal with.
Even before and after his goal, teammates had started looking to get Cunha on the ball on every occasion, because he was starting to feel the flow in his natural position.
That position has been held hostage by a wasteful Rashford, who is also going back to his old days of lacking defensive effort, but Carrick seems enamoured by that romantic comeback story.
It has forced Cunha to struggle as the sole striker, while Rashford wastes chances and leaves his left-back on an island to defend 1v1s repeatedly.
On a normal day, shifting Cunha to the left and then having the player score feels like a tactical masterstroke by the manager. Here, it was entirely forced, and it vindicated all those who had been asking for it all this time.
Now expect Carrick to go back to starting Rashford on the left in the next game, if he’s still here. He’s certainly trying to ensure that he isn’t.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/ZDrjnvc