Why do Manchester United lack intensity? | "They don't want to run back!"
Why do Manchester United lack intensity? Does Carrick deserve time?
The show examines Manchester United's lack of running and intensity, covering the midfield balance, Michael Carrick's future, player responsibility, and Bruno Fernandes's form and contract. The panel doubts Carrick can turn it around, while one reporter argues much of the blame lies with the players and worries about Bruno's form and future.
- United's midfield lacks running and recovery intensity; Mainoo and Tielemans should not play together, and the team needs more energy in midfield. — The pairing leaves too many gaps and the players do not want to run back; Mainoo worked with Casemiro last season because Casemiro's experience covered for him; the sarcastic cheer for a tackle and run showed the midfield was non-existent.
- Patience at Old Trafford has already run out quickly, and the mood around Carrick has turned fast. — The crowd booed after half an hour against Spurs, despite their earlier patience with Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim; that shows how unhappy they are with what is on the pitch.
- Managers need time to turn things around, otherwise head coaches have no chance to succeed today. — He cited Diego Simeone, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arteta, stressed embracing difficult times, and said such periods reveal who in the squad is in it for the long term.
- Carrick has not shown he can rebuild United in the way Arteta or Simeone have, and I do not see him turning it around. — There is not enough evidence from his time at United or Middlesbrough; he was let go by mid-table Middlesbrough in the Championship, and the jump to Premier League Manchester United is too big; he also failed to reshape the squad in the summer.
- United's players have not adapted to the demands of a heavier fixture schedule, and they are not giving enough for the badge. — They played only about 40 games last season and went out of the cups early; the home crowd booed after half an hour against Tottenham, which proves the players are not doing enough.
- Bruno Fernandes's form is a mystery, the lack of rotation in his position is surprising, and his contract situation raises doubts. — He has only one assist this season after breaking the single-season assist record last season; he played all 90 minutes against Sabah in the first Champions League match; contract talks are ongoing and his deal expires at the end of the season, though there is a 12-month extension option.
- Much of United's problem lies with the players rather than only Carrick, and their drop-off is bewildering. — Players described the dressing room as the best in years in preseason; Fulham and Tottenham both dominated United easily, with Fulham playing triangles on both flanks.
- Bruno Fernandes's dip has a huge impact because no one else in the squad can reach his level; United should tie him down to a new contract as soon as possible. — He is the captain and talisman and has set a very high standard; no other player can step up consistently; he has said he wants to stay, and the club previously turned down a 100 million offer from Saudi Arabia.
► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT Charlie Austin joins Sky Sports FC to discuss Manchester United's recent struggles in the Premier League following Jamie Carragher's comments, "if they don't up their intensity very quickly, this could get very messy." 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
Well, in when you're talking about the running, often that starts in central midfield. We've heard a few people over the weekend saying that Mayu and Tielemans can't play together. Well, Mayu can't play uh this week. So, does Carlos Believer come in and how much does that help them if at all? Well, >> it's going to help them because it's a different a different type of energy. I guess you see the reaction he got when he come on. The Manchester United fans were excited. He made a great tackle and run. Everybody cheered, but that's what you expect. I think they cheered about it because it was a sarcasm cheer because the midfield was non-existent. Like Kobe Mayu last year was playing with Casemiro. Yes, fine. Casemiro was the person that picked up all the experiences, won five Champions leagues and it was a great partnership. But I'm not sure Tielemans and Mayu work, but they leave so many gaps in the midfield. They don't want to run back, Tom. This is what I can't understand. You're a professional footballer. You play for Manchester United, one of the biggest teams in the world, and you don't want to run. You don't want to run back. So, BIA needs to come in and it's not exactly going to be hard to be better than what we've just seen on the clips we've just seen as well previously. >> Well, let's bring in Dan Car now because he's in Madrid for us ahead of this game. Good morning uh to you, Dan. Now, Michael Carrick has asked for time. Do you expect him to get it unpacked there as you've been discussing with Charlie? But look, I think with Michael Carrick, look, from what I'm hearing around the club, there's no immediate plans to uh mount pressure on him that look, if he doesn't deliver in the short term, that they're looking to make a change. But what I will say is this feels like it's turned quite quickly. And when you consider at Old Trafford on Saturday against Spurs, the crowd uh were booing after half an hour. I mean, that is quite an incredible statement from that fan base. When you think how patient they were with the likes of Eric Tenhog, Ruben Amarim, and that's not just pointed at Michael Carrick, but more to what they're seeing in front of them on the pitch. I think that does tell you quite a lot. But I thought Michael Carrick in his pre-match news conference was quite pointed in his messaging. He didn't just talk about the need for time. He spoke about the likes of Diego Simeone, Sir Alex Ferguson. He even cited Mikuel Ateta, but his message was also embracing the challenge of these difficult times. but also just how important it was to see the players, the squad, how they would react in times like this and who's really in it for the long term. To me, that points to is he happy with just how that squad has been over the last few months, what he's been seeing. Maybe not completely happy with certain players. But as I mentioned, Carrick's message ahead of where's a huge game tonight is one of needing time to turn things around otherwise head coaches and managers these days don't have a chance to succeed. Yeah, they're not normal, but it pains me to say, but the one that the one that won the league in our country last season is he's been there for a long period of time. It's seven years and the first two seasons were, correct me if I'm wrong, maybe eighth or seventh or eighth. Um, I think he's done an incredible job, Mikuel. And um that that's that's another example. you know, we're talking about Sir Alex and um Diego Simeone who have have gone on for a a lot longer than that and and have built built something incredibly special at both football clubs. Um it doesn't always take time. It depends on depends on the situation of of how things go. But more or less it to to get to where you want to be and be sustainable and and consistent, then it's going to take a bit of time to build that foundation. And um that's the way it is, >> right? So Charlie, listening to Carrick there, have you seen anything to suggest he's got what it takes to build Manchester United in the way that people like Arsenal have Artetra has done with Arsenal, Diego Simeone has done? I'd have to go too mentioned there. No, because at the moment I know it's easy to say and we can talk about Arteta when he first come in. It was a tight, it was a freebuild, he was getting players out, but Michael Carrick almost had like a taster of it. Don't forget he had six months to start. And for me, the problem was the players just shown him something and the they finished third. They had the easy games to play. They didn't play any extra games. So, he had the summer to get rid of the players that he didn't really want or bring what he want in. And it didn't happen. The issue you've got is you are Manchester United manager and you're the person in charge now. You're no longer the interim manager. It's all on you. problem is for me I don't see him turning it around because I haven't seen enough even in this this period the start of season last year or when he was at Middlesbrough that is the biggest thing you can't forget about when he was at Middlesbrough and he was let go by Middlesbrough because they was in the championship you can't go from mid-table Middlesbrough Championship to Premier League Manchester United one of the biggest clubs in in world football I I really don't see it >> is it too easy to say that because they're in Europe it's much harder yes they have got more games but Manchester United a club as a club are used to having European football and Carrick as a manager like you said at Middlesbrough is used to having more games. There's more games in the championship. >> Yeah, but them players that look at the players that they've got on the on the pitch. Do are they used to playing more games like cuz last year they didn't they was knocked out by Grimby and that was them done and then they was knocked out in the the FA Cup as well. So that was them up. So they only played 40 games last year. So it's all right saying about the uh the manager used to more games are the players used to more games. Are they are they used to the demand of it? I'm not sure what they are showing the fans and the manager and their coaching staff at the moment is not enough and that is pro proven half an hour into their home game against Tottenham their fans are booing and that proves that their players are not given enough for the badge. >> Dan, in terms of Bruno Fernandez, he's always been praised even when Manchester United have been really struggling. Is his former a concern? >> Yeah, it's a mystery really Tom. Of course, he's the reigning player of the year in all sorts of different categories of football rights as Premier League as well. And look, he does have three goals to his name in the league. Just the one assist though after having broken the single season record last season. And Michael Carrick was asked multiple times about his form. Is he undropable? And Carrick said not just specifically talking about Fernandez, but that you look any player is droppable if they fall below the standard. I think what has been a surprise this season is the lack of rotation in that position even just to give Fernandez some rest. I think it was quite bewildering against Sabah the Azabaijan side in the first Champions League match round that Fernandez played all 90 minutes for example. I thought you know maybe even in the League Cup you see someone like Yuri Tilman's play in that position although Mason Mount did deputize from the start in that game. So I think that has been surprising but I think with Fernandez there is an underlying uh kind of story there around his contract. Now United have been locked in negotiations with their captain for months now around what a potential new contract could look like. That's still ongoing. His current contract runs out until the end of the season. There is an option to extend that by 12 months. But with the speculation over the last few summers around his future, you just wonder how settled is the Manchester United captain? especially when you see the results just aren't really amounting or piling up to anything longterm right now. I mean, Charlie is right when you look at Manchester United. I mean, you can't say they're a mainstay in the Champions League. They're in one year out for another. But there is some irony with this story, Tom. Charlie, you know, a few years ago, I was covering them in the Europa League and many of the fans in St. Sebastian and Bill Bao were all telling me we might not be back in Europe for a good three or four years. Now, Michael Carrick, what he was able to do in that first six months in charge, he brought them back to the Champions League and they did win some huge games, albeit having one game a week. And talking about his credentials there, Charlie, I mean, you would have to say though, not to support Carrick, but he hasn't gone down too dissimilar path than Enzo Moresca having played a little bit, coached a little bit, sorry, in the championship, although Moresca led Leicester to a championship title. I I do think a lot of this has to be on the players. All the optimism in preseason that felt the players were all telling us that this has been the best changing room they've been in for years. It is just bewildering why they are falling so far below the level. I mean, not just against Tottenham, but Fulham before the break. They were playing triangles on both flanks against United pretty easily. So, it has been incredibly disappointing, but probably more so even more surprising. Yeah, >> they can start the turnaround tonight, of course. Dan, thank you. Yes, Charlie, on Bruno Fernandez there, are you surprised at his form uh dipping or is it fair given that his standards have been so high for so long? >> His standards been so high. He's been the talisman. He's been the main man. He's the captain. Everybody's been looking at him to perform the way he has. And I think it's everybody's looking and noticing his his performance has dipped because there's no other player in that squad to step up to the level of Bruno Fernandez and show consistency. There isn't. So, when his form drops, Man United are all over the place. the contract scenario bit. You want a player like him to get this nailed down for as long as possible. He's a club captain. He's come out and said he wants to stay. Last year, the year before, they turned down 100 million because he didn't want to leave to go to Saudi. So, I'm surprised we got into this situation, but again, I think the biggest thing is in the eye open is there's nobody else that can step up to his level. We're going to get back to Manchester.