Jamie Redknapp Slams Joshua Zirkzee After Man Utd 2-3 Brighton

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Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp claims one Manchester United player 'couldn't pass the ball' during shock 3-2 defeat vs Brighton

Jamie Redknapp claims one Manchester United player “couldn’t pass the ball” during Wednesday’s shock 3-2 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albio n at Old Trafford.

United crashed out of the Carabao Cup in the third round, despite taking an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from talented teenager Shea Lacey and Mason Mount inside the opening 10 minutes.

It’s the first time in 50 years that Man Utd have lost a match at Old Trafford after holding a 2-0 lead. The Red Devils had won 143 out of the previous 145 games in which they’d led by two goals to nil.

Michael Carrick , who signed a two-year contract as permanent manager in May after guiding the club to an unlikely third-place finish after replacing Ruben Amorim on an interim basis in January, now finds himself under considerable pressure following a poor start to the 2026-27 campaign.

United have picked up four points from their opening four Premier League matches, leaving them 13th in the table, and already find themselves dumped out of the Carabao Cup .

Boos rang around the Theatre of Dreams at full-time as goals from Brighton trio Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper condemned Carrick’s players to an embarrassing home defeat.

Michael Carrick's men crashed out of the Carabao Cup.

Former Liverpool and England midfielder Jamie Redknapp didn’t hold back with his post-match analysis on Sky Sports.

> “They [Brighton] looked better coached, they had patterns of play even though they made changes today they looked like a thoroughly good side,” Redknapp said.

> “United threw on their insurance policy in Bruno [Fernandes] and [Kobbie] Mainoo. Everyone thought they might be able to make an impact and in fact it made them worse.”

Redknapp then claimed Joshua Zirkzee, who replaced Benjamin Sesko with the scores locked at 2-2 in the 66th minute, “couldn’t pass the ball” to a teammate after entering the fray.

> He added: “Zirkzee came on and couldn’t pass the ball to his own teammate. Incredible for Brighton, they deserved it.”

Zirkzee, who joined United in July 2024 from Bologna in a deal worth £36.5 million, has only managed to score nine goals and provide four assists in 78 appearances for the Premier League giants.

The Netherlands international, who has been capped six times by his country, was particularly poor after coming on against Brighton. He only managed to have 17 touches of the ball, completed zero of his two attempted dribbles, failed to create a chance or have a shot on target.

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