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Jamie Carragher has taken aim at Matthijs de Ligt following Manchester United’s 3-0 capitulation at home to Tottenham, claiming the centre-back’s shaky display just ‘summed up’ the side’s defending throughout Erik ten Hag’s reign.
The mounting pressure on Ten Hag intensified as Spurs got the better of United in every department at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
It took the north London club just three minutes to open the scoring through Brennan Johnson, with the Welshman making no mistake from close range after an incredible 70-yard run from Micky van de Ven.
United had chances to equalise but were reduced to ten men in the 42nd minute as Bruno Fernandes was given his marching orders and the situation went from bad to worse after the half-time break.
Dejan Kulusevski doubled the visitors’ lead within two minutes of the restart and Dominic Solanke added a third to put Ange Postecoglou’s men out of sight, consigning the Red Devils to their third defeat of the campaign.
The result leaves United stranded down in 12th place in the table and there have been some calls for Ten Hag to be relieved of his duties, but the Dutchman is expected to remain in charge for the side’s crucial games with Porto and Aston Villa.
De Ligt has endured a rocky start to his United career on the back of a high-profile £43m move from Bayern Munich towards the end of the summer transfer window.
Analysing United’s loss on Monday Night Football, Sky Sports pundit Carragher highlighted several moments where the Dutchman had been guilty of poor positioning which ultimately cost his side.
Watching back at Johnson’s early opener, Carragher said: ‘I’ve noticed this a little bit with De Ligt and a lot of centre backs. I don’t understand why they don’t fill the space and they come over. I see this so much.
‘The striker just behind him has got nothing to do with him, that’s is Martinez’s job. If De Ligt goes over, [Lisandro] Martinez comes across. He’s looking over his shoulder… forget that, forget it! Get here!
‘This was a brilliant run, it was amazing, but Van de Ven runs because he sees the space.’
Johnson came close to scoring a second against United but was denied by the post after a slick counter-attacking move from Tottenham.
According to Carragher, De Ligt displayed poor decision-making by ‘flying across’ in an attempt to steal the ball from Timo Werner before Johnson struck the woodwork.
‘This sums up Manchester United for the last two or three years. Pressing and always being late,’ the ex-Liverpool defender added.
‘Just look at De Ligt come flying across, he comes flying into the challenge, very similar to a challenge he put in against Luis Diaz for Liverpool because it comes from his starting position. ‘
Later on in the first half, De Ligt was again caught in no man’s land and had Andre Onana to thank after the much-maligned goalkeeper denied Timo Werner with his feet.
‘I can talk about Manchester United’s midfield, running through midfield, running at the back four. I’ve been saying this for the last 18 months, that hasn’t changed,’ Carragher explained.
‘But when they win the ball if I’m going to tell you that this player [Werner] within five seconds is going to be running through on the goal… that tells you the problems Manchester United have.
‘The rest of the defence is awful, it always has been when they lose possession. But where’s De Ligt? The right-back has come out here but look where De Ligt is! You’ve got to get over.
‘In every situation in that first half, two massive chances and the goal in De Ligt a player they brought in for huge money in the summer he’s completely out of position all the time so he ends up having to go flying in to challenges and then you leave yourself in a situation where you’re going to get yellow cards or red cards.’
De Ligt will hope to be given the chance to redeem himself when United return to Europa League action away to Porto on Thursday night.
After United’s horror show at the weekend, Paul Scholes questioned the club’s decision to sign the defender in the first place, arguing he was no major improvement on Harry Maguire.
‘When you bring players in, you expect them to be a lot better than who you’ve already got. I don’t see players coming in who are a big difference,’ Scholes said on SuperSport.
‘De Ligt has come in for Maguire, let’s say, but there’s no big difference there.
Asked whether De Ligt is a £50m improvement on former club captain Maguire, Scholes replied: ‘No, absolutely not.’
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