Michael Carrick rejects suggestion his use of Matheus Cunha cost team in loss to Newcastle | OneFootball

Manchester United caretaker boss Michael Carrick has rejected suggestions that his use of Matheus Cunha and the consequent perceived lack of width on the left is to blame for the 2-1 loss at Newcastle’s hands.

First defeat

Despite playing the entire second half with a man advantage after Jacob Ramsey was sent off in first-half stoppage time, United – who initially fell behind to an Anthony Gordon penalty strike but equalised just before the interval – were unable to capitalise on their chances.

The Red Devils were eventually made to pay when substitute William Osula curled the ball past Senne Lammens in the 90th minute of proceedings.

Osula’s strike condemned Carrick to his first defeat since he was named Ruben Amorim’s temporary replacement in December last year. It also represents the second time that United have been beaten by 10 men in the Premier League this season, with Everton pulling off a similar feat at Old Trafford back in November.

After the final whistle at St James’ Park, Carrick spoke to journalists in his press conference and shared his thoughts on the performance and the result.

Every word from Carrick’s presser

The legendary United midfielder said, “Yeah, disappointed obviously. Bitterly disappointed. It hurts. Tonight, I think we definitely came here in good shape [and] looking to get something from the game, if not win the game and the way it panned out is very disappointing. There’s no two ways about that.”

Asked why his team didn’t take the game to Newcastle in the second half, Carrick answered, “Football is football. There are things that it happens in the game and sometimes it goes with you and sometimes it goes away rom you. [There are] certain things that we got to do of course.”

“We can be better. We can be an awful lot better. We’ve put ourselves in a good position, in a decent position with the performances and the results that we’ve had. So, tonight hurts.”

Asked what specific thing about the game frustrated him, Carrick said, “Just the way the game was going. Emotions are part of the game and certain things we wanted to try and do and you’re not doing it…that’s it. The boys have been fantastic, so we’ve lost a game of football. It hurts me a lot. I’m really disappointed with tonight for different reasons but we can’t lose sight of the position we’ve put ourselves in as well.”

“So as much as I’m disappointed, we need to learn from it because it’s a bit of a lesson for us tonight in some ways. We can’t lose sight of the bigger picture. And we got to be better for this.”

On whether his side has a problem with width, Carrick remarked, “He [Matheus Cunha] played on the touchline today. He played wide, so we had width in the team. Listen, I’m not going to dissect the performance. There were some decent bits and there was a lot of bits we need to get better at.”

“The boys have been good. We’ve played well and had a lot of results. We’ve lost the game tonight. Of course, we’re all hoping – the boys, myself, the staff – we’re all hoping for a little bit more. It didn’t happen for us.”

Asked for his opinion on Ramsey’s sending-off and Dan Burn elbowing Luke Shaw, Carrick told reporters, “No [he doesn’t have any thoughts]. To be honest, I think things happen in the game but I haven’t seen them. I’ve not seen them back to be brutally honest with you.”

“The result in itself and things within the game from us that we can do better is what I’m really interested in. I think you get some decisions for you and some against you. It is what it is. I’m not going to pick them apart right now.”

On United having another big gap between games, Carrick said, “We’ve got to make the best of it really. As I said there about learning lessons and understanding why tonight was what it was and how it happened and think how it kind of developed against us.”

“We’ve got to learn from that. So we look at that and…yeah it’s another important game for us. It’s a big week for us and it’s one to look forward to. We’re in a position now that we’ve put ourselves in and the boys have put themselves in – that can be really exciting.”

“We’ve got to be really positive going to the next game and looking forward to it because there’s a lot to play for.”

United return to action on Sunday, March 15, when they host Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Featured image George Wood via Getty Images

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