Erik ten Hag responds to Jamie Carragher for Manchester United's criticism of Fulham's defeat

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has responded to Jamie Carragher's criticism over their defeat to Fulham.

Carragher went on a five-minute rant about United on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, criticizing their recent form.

And Ten Hag has bitten the Liverpool legend in his Tuesday afternoon press conference, saying: “Some analysts are very objective and others are very subjective.

“Jamie CarragherHe, from the first moment, has criticized and now wants to make his point.

“Probably in the first half hour he had a point, FulhamThe configuration of the midfield surprised us and we had to look for solutions and after half an hour we found them.

“I'm not happy with the performance on defense, especially on the left.

“Fulham came out on the left side several times. That has a lot to do with will and passion.

“The previous weeks I came from this team and that's why we won games. Soccer players are not robots and sometimes they play bad games.”

United had lost to Fulham on Saturday after a late Alex Iwobi goal moments later. Harry MaguireTie in the 89th minute.

The Red Devils had won five in a row before the weekend but Carragher had insisted they had not played well during that period, which included nervy wins over Luton Town and Wolves.

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Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, Carragher said: “I want to single out Mainoo, who has been fantastic since he arrived, but the problem I have, it's not a criticism of him, what are his instructions before the game?

“This is straight from the kick-off, not sure whether to close down the holding midfielder or looking at the number 10, he's trapped, straight from the kick-off; you have to know your jobs straight from the kick-off and that's down to the body technical.

“Twenty seconds into the game against Fulham, that was the problem for manchester united Throughout the season, there is space between the back four and the midfield.

“We are going to analyze the reason why they are weak defensively and cannot cope with counterattacks, they have no rhythm at the back and they lack legs in the midfield.

“People say: 'There are no playing patterns at Manchester United, how do they play and what is the philosophy?'

“I will tell you why there are no patterns of play and why they are done on the counterattack, the positions they are in.

“When Varane has the ball, you have your right back, he can't receive a pass, Mainoo, your central midfielder, is on the last line, that can't be right, that's not right. Bruno Fernandes, on the last line, playing as a forward, he is number 10, Victor Lindelof cannot receive the ball, players cannot receive the ball in the positions they choose.

“There is a big problem for Manchester United when they have the ball… How many times do you see players running 40 meters towards the goal?”