Jamie Carragher believes Michael Carrick made the wrong tactical decision in Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, arguing Benjamin Sesko should have been introduced earlier without taking Youri Tielemans off.
Manchester United spent most of the game with a numerical advantage after Phil Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute, yet struggled to make that extra man count.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher focused on the decision to replace Youri Tielemans with Sesko in the 67th minute.
Carragher highlights Bruno Fernandes problem
“Sesko comes on and they take a midfield player off in Tielemans,” Carragher said. “You might say ‘you’re losing 1-0, against ten men, you bring a striker on and take a midfielder off’, most managers would probably do that and say that’s what you should do.”
However, Carragher believes the change created another problem because Bruno Fernandes was pushed into a deeper central midfield role.
“But the knock-on effect for Manchester United is that means Bruno Fernandes goes to central midfield.”
The former Liverpool defender then pointed to the importance of keeping Fernandes in his best position.
“The best player in the Premier League, the best player by a mile in the Manchester United team is Bruno Fernandes. Where is Bruno Fernandes here?”
Carragher argued the decision eventually left Fernandes defending deeper, even marking Haaland late in the game.
“Bruno Fernandes is here (on the halfway line), he’s marking Erling Haaland. This is in the 88th minute…”
His criticism was not simply aimed at bringing Benjamin Sesko on. Carragher’s issue was when the change was made and what it did to the team’s shape.
“That was the knock-on effect of Michael Carrick’s decision to take Tielemans off and drop Bruno Fernandes deeper.”
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