‘Genuine disgrace’: Horror own goal leaves Man United great furious
Gary Neville has urged Michael Carrick to “stop defending” his Manchester United playing group, as a dismal 1-1 draw to Fulham mounts pressure on the manager.
Matheus Cunha saved United from an embarrassing defeat at Craven Cottage on Monday (AEST) when he slotted a late equaliser to silence Fulham’s supporter, cancelling out the horror own goal teammate Lisandro Martínez had just scored.
Lammens attempts to save an own goal scored by teammate Lisandro Martinez. Getty Images
Fulham were looking to break the stalemate when Martinez tapped the ball into the wrong net when trying to clear a deflected ball over the goal line.
Senne Lammens had just batted away a shot into the box from Calvin Bassey when the ball landed in front of Martinez, who mistimed his clearance.
It came amidst a worrying performance from the Premier League giants, who have started the season in disappointing fashion.
Neville was not short of words after witnessing the “absolutely pathetic” display that United had put on show up until Martinez’s unfortunate error.
“I’ve watched Manchester United since the age of five and that’s the worst 15 minutes I’ve ever seen,” he said on Sky Sports’ coverage.
“I’ve never seen such a lack of effort. What must Carrick be thinking?”
Cunha’s late goal did not ease the anger of the United great post-match, nor did the idea of Fulham waiting another week to record their first win of the season.
With only one victory record in five matches this season, Neville became even more enraged hearing Carrick say he was “happy” with the groups efforts.
“I’ve never seen a Manchester United team walk out of possession as must that,” Neville continued during the post-game panel.
“Michael said he was happy with the team’s energy – Michael has to stop defending them, he has to stop.
“I get why he is defending them. He is loyal, he wants his players to work for him and there is a long way to go in the season.
“Both teams were the same, they were absolute mannequins. There was no alertness, no liveliness, no one was on their toes ... they were just walking.
“Very rarely do I say a team doesn’t work hard or is lacking in effort. That’s the ultimate criticism you can give a group of players ... but in those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man United were a genuine disgrace.”
Neville believes the international break could not come at a better time for United as Carrick and his group will be able to “rebalance” and sort things out.
Carrick admitted that there is “only so much” he can do over that window due to the number of players that will be out with their national teams.
“There will be a little bit of time off and then we get ready for the restart when we get back,” he said.
Michael Carrick supports his playing group against Fulham. Getty Images
One thing the 45-year-old manager and club great did make clear post-game was that he is still confident his team can shut out the external criticism, like the brutal analysis the side often earns from Neville, to get back on track.
“I understand at times when we are chasing the game, everyone’s a little bit emotional. The supporters are, as well they should be, desperate for us to do the right thing ... but I don’t take any negatives or offence to it. ,” Carrick added.
“We’ve just got to try and keep doing the right things to get back into the game.”
United’s first game back after the international game is on October 11 (AEST) against Tottenham, who are on the bottom of the table after a winless start.
