Como thrash Man Utd to pile misery on Michael Carrick's side | "They are on a downward spiral!"
Sky Sports News: Como thrash Man Utd as pressure mounts on Carrick
The panel reacts to Como's win over Manchester United, criticising United's disorganisation, flawed recruitment and lack of leaders. They say pressure on Michael Carrick has increased, while a managerial change alone is unlikely to be a quick fix.
- Como were cohesive and excellent, with Nico Paz the standout; United simply could not cope with him or them. — Paz scored twice and assisted once, and Como moved the ball around outstandingly.
- United were disorganised off the ball, loose in possession and lacking any attacking patterns or final ball; the overall display was nowhere near good enough. — They gave the ball away too easily, had no clear patterns, and failed to find the final pass or finish even after getting into decent positions.
- This performance and result will only increase the pressure on Carrick; he needed wins to ease the heat. — They produced another poor display and result at a time when he needed results.
- The responsibility is shared by the manager and coaching staff, the players and the club as a whole; the players did not perform at any acceptable level. — Injuries and the left-back reshuffle explain some of it, but the players still had to give much more.
- United are no longer one of the biggest teams in the world, so defeats to Leeds and Como are not shocks; people are still trapped by the Rooney and Ronaldo era. — The current players are nowhere near the level of that old superstar side.
- United are in a downward spiral and a rut, with no visible leader or voice in the dressing room to spark a recovery. — They need characters to stand up and take responsibility, but he cannot see who that person will be.
- Carrick has probably been left short by recruitment; United built from the front rather than from the back, so changing manager may not help. — They have used several left-backs, Shaw is injury-prone, no centre-forward was signed, and the defence was neglected.
- Changing the manager is not the answer; demanding an immediate title challenge or top-four finish is unrealistic, and even Ancelotti would fail; United can no longer be assumed to be above Brighton. — Expectations are stuck in the old United status, while Brighton recruit well and are a proper team.
- The problem is not just the manager but the whole club from top to bottom; United need to get back to basics and pick up results quickly. — They have tried different and world-class managers without success, and the midfield was overrun by Como with an uncoordinated press.
- United cannot even get back to basics because the defence is not there; summer recruitment was wrong and the club is disjointed on and off the pitch, so this is not a quick fix. — Conte would start by tightening the defence, and a public voice of dissent shows there are problems inside the club.
► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT Michael Carrick's Manchester United were ripped apart in a dreadful 4-1 defeat at Como in the Champions League, as their miserable run of results stretched to seven without a win. The pressure continues to pile up on Carrick and this United side as their start to the season lurches from bad to worse - and on Wednesday night they were humbled by a Como team which delivered more intensity and quality in Italy. SkySportsNews SkySports manchesterunited ► For the latest developments on this story: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/topstories ► For the latest transfer news: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/TransferCentre More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports Retro: http://bit.ly/SkySportsRetroSub ► Sky Sports WSL: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsWSL ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skysportsnews ► X: https://x.com/SkySportsNews ► Website: https://www.skysports.com ► To enquire about licensing Sky Sports content, you can find out more here: https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/news/31754/11434270/license-sky-sports-footage
Transcript
Right, it is fulltime in Como. Sue Smith, discuss. >> Well, Ko were brilliant. Um, so cohesive. The way that they played the ball around, they were they were outstanding. Nico Paz was obviously the the standout player. Two goals and and an assist and Manchester United just couldn't deal with him or or deal with them. I think, you know, we we looked at Fabregas and he said he likes to play that possession based football and you could see that. Um, I looked at Manchester United's team and I thought, I wonder how they're going to line up. very similar to the the leads game and it looked like they didn't really know how they were lining up off the ball. Really disorganized, sort of giving the ball away far too easily, really loose in possession. And then when they went forward again, just they just didn't look like any sort of patterns or or anything and getting themselves into decent positions and just not finding that final pass, not finding the the clinical finish. Just not good enough at all from from Manchester United. and you looked at the leads game and you thought, okay, they they've set up to to stop leads and and to nullify their strengths and and they did that on the whole. They then switched off and conceded and and ended up drawing the game. And I've kept saying if Michael Carrick gets a few results, he gets a few wins under his belt. That pressure will start to ease. That heat on him will start to ease. But this performance tonight and this result tonight just adds that pressure and adds that that heat on him. So yeah, really disappointing from a a Manchester United perspective, but this KOMO side brilliant to watch. >> Who's the performance down to? Who's the United performance down to? >> I think it's got to be a combination, hasn't it? The the manager and the the coaching staff obviously set them up and and put them on the field, but the players as well, you know, you look at the back line, that's where I was thinking, how are they going to line up defensively because they've got so many injuries and players missing. Obviously, Dit's not played for 10, 11 months. Maguire, I was thinking, can he play two games in a week? The left back situation, they've, you know, had, I don't know, five left backs that have have played there. So, that was always going to be a bit of a a mishmash there. But, I just think they have to give more. It's a it's a combination, isn't it? It's got to be the club as a whole, you know, h have to be better. But the players on the pitch there just didn't perform at any sort of level. >> Paul, no win in seven for United. first time since 2015. What's got to change? >> We got to start winning football matches. I think that the only problem with Manchester United is we still live in the the age of like when it was Rooney, Ronaldo, and Carrick and people like that. I mean, we we we're caught in the name. We're caught in the name. One of the biggest clubs in the world. They're not one of the biggest teams in the world anymore. They're far from it. And this is the problem. We we all sit here and we do and everybody judges on that that team when they had superstars in it and you know from 25 up to whenever it was. But that's that is the problem. This is where they are. I don't I don't I I don't see it as a shock. It's not a shock. I look at their team. I look at their players. I don't I don't look at them and I go, "Oh, this is a surprise. Can't believe where they are." I didn't expect them to beat Leads at the weekend. Absolutely not. I didn't expect them to beat Ko tonight. That's where they are. But we we're caught in this. It's Man United and we're still still got it in our heads that it's, you know, Rooney and Ronaldo and Carrick and Giggs and Beckham and Keane and Scholes. No, far from it. Million miles away. >> How do they get back to being that great side, though? >> Well, I mean, they're in a downward spiral, that's for sure. They're in a rut. We've we've all been in dress rooms where it's like that. And it just takes it takes some kind of spark. It takes some kind of win by hooker, by crook, and also it takes a lot of a lot of characters, a lot of personalities. I mean, I I'll be in that dressing room and I'm sure when they get in that dressing room now, they'll be looking around here. It' be a silent dressing room, but I'll be looking around going, "Who's going to get us out of this?" They Yes, they've got talent in that dressing room in different departments, but I'll be looking around going, "Who's going to be the one that's going to be sort of standing up, chest out, shoulders back to go, right, lads, this is this these are the demands of this football club?" >> I don't see I don't see the voice. I don't see who who that person's going to be. I don't see where the spark's going to come from. >> Is Michael Carrick the man to get them out of this sue? He'll hope he can be. I I think it's it's difficult the position that they're in. I think there's been a lot of talk about, you know, the the lack of recruitment in the areas that they needed to recruit in. You look at that the left back situation where I said they've had five different left backs. Luke Shaw obviously last season played a lot of football, but we know that he's he's injuryprone. Center forward, I think, was a another issue where Cesco obviously, you know, picks up niggly injuries. They didn't recruit in that area. And they seem to have tried to build from the front, haven't they? So they've they've strengthened the forward line, they've strengthened the midfield, and they've left the the back line and and I think we've said it on the show, haven't we, before you you start from the back surely, you get that foundation set, and then you build that way, and it seems like Manchester United have done it the wrong way round. So you then look at recruitment. Was Michael Carrick left short? Um, so >> well, he says not, doesn't he? >> Yeah, I think you look at that team and you think he probably has been. He's not being helped there. I just think changing the manager, would that help? I don't know. I know you speak to a lot of Manchester United fans and they don't think it will. >> What do you change your manager for? You know, you could bring in an Angelotti, but if you want to bring in Angelotti and say, "Right, you got to win the league." He's going to fail miserably. >> But if you want to come in and say, "Right, let's start starting learn how to walk first and we'll go from there." It's just bring a manager in and it's the same thing. It's Man United. Oh, you got to win the league or you got to get to you're entitled to get top four. That's not Man United anymore. If you if you sat here tonight now and we all sat here and said who's going to finish above who, Brighton or Man United, I'd be shocked if anybody in the whole of this building went with Man United. And that's that's but that's where they are. You know, you look at Brighton at the moment, they're a team. They buy well. They they don't buy superstars, but they do their own work. And you know, and you look at this team don't mour's one of the greatest managers of all time of all time in this country. And he said when he got second with Man United, that's his biggest feat he's ever. And everybody went, "Oh, you really?" >> You know, he weren't lying. You know, this bloke's one of the top people in the world. And at the moment, we got to get away from this Man United of and get it out of our heads. This is Man United where they are at the moment. And I don't I think that they're here for a long time because the way it is now with fair plays and everything, you know, they can't go out and buy all the top players in the world. They're I've said it before, they're on a they're buying on the flip of a coin. If it turns on heads, he's a good player. If he turns on towels, it's not. And you're not going to get successful like that with Man United. They need to go back to the drawing board and take something out of the leaf of Brenford and Brighton. And you know, people will be screaming at telly, "How dare you? We're Man United. How can you say that about Brenford and Brighton? Who's going to finish above who, you know, and for me it's worrying at the moment." Really worrying. >> Sue Antonio Conte said, "I'll do it. I'll do the United job." Would he make any difference? Well, I think like the the guys have said that that's it's it's difficult. They've tried managers, haven't they? They they've tried different types of managers, world-class managers, and it's not work. So, it's something else, isn't it? It's something else that that needs to be sorted, and that's from the the top all the way down. And, you know, I've constantly looked at the the midfield area of of Manchester United and you know, we were all saying, well, when Ble comes back fit, will that be different? Will that make a difference? He's shown glimpses in previous games. tonight maybe not so much but started with Mountain and Santos and again just didn't work. They were just overrunning there from from Ko. So in that first half it just looked like Manchester United needed to get back to basics. They you know they they weren't stringing passes together. They weren't organized in the press. One was going the others weren't following. So it's about getting back to basics now and and picking up results and quickly because that heat's just going to keep going. Is it? >> They can't get back to basics because they haven't got the defense. >> They haven't got the defense. You know, Conte comes in, he'll go right, we're going to get tight at the back and we'll start from there. >> But they've done it, as Sue said, they've done it the wrong way round. They went forwards that window, midfield this window, and we'll go defenders after. >> Got it wrong. >> It's disjointed all from on the pitch and off the pitch as well. I for Martes to come out the other week and say what he said. You know, the recruitment for me was wrong in the summer. They didn't get the players that they they should have got. >> When you've got someone out that's speaking out, there's problems in the football club. And like what Mercer said, it's not a quick fix. This is not an easy fix. This is going to be a long time for Manchester United. >> Yeah, problems for United.