“What we can’t deny is…”: Michael Owen delivers sobering assessment of Carrick’s Man United future after Villa draw

Former Manchester United forward Michael Owen has delivered an honest assessment of Michael Carrick after the draw with Aston Villa.

Rollercoaster

United’s wait for a second Premier League victory of the season is set to continue after they were held to a dramatic 4-4 draw by Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Just as was the case against AS Roma in the Champions League, United found themselves trailing by two goals in the opening stages of the game, but this time it happened even quicker.

Alysson and Nicolas Jackson punished extremely poor defending from United to hand Villa a comfortable 2-0 lead inside four minutes. Bruno Fernandes gave United a lifeline when he converted a penalty that was won by Matheus Cunha.

The Red Devils eventually restored parity just before the break through Youri Tielemans, who got on the end of a cutback from Noussair Mazraoui to fire past Zion Suzuki.

United could not build on their momentum and were immediately punished after the restart. Diogo Dalot’s reckless lunge gifted Villa a penalty, which John McGinn buried, and Leon Goretzka then made it 4-2 after Leny Yoro unbelievably headed the ball into his own crossbar.

United looked done and dusted until Joshua Zirkzee halved the deficit in stoppage time. There was a final twist in the tale as fellow substitute Patrick Dorgu scored in the final seconds to ensure the spoils were shared.

With the international break now in place, questions are swirling over Carrick’s future. After the final whistle, he made it clear that he will not walk away. He reiterated in his post-match press conference that he expects to be in charge against Liverpool on 22 November.

Speaking on Premier League Productions, Owen acknowledged the work Carrick has done so far but indicated that this could be the right time to make a change in the dugout.

Owen’s verdict

Owen said [as quoted by Football 365], “Going into the international break in the relegation zone just doesn’t have a good ring to it, does it? If Man Utd were looking, searching, testing the market for a new manager in recent times, some would say this is the time to do it.”

“I think the next couple of days are going to be pivotal. But what we can’t deny is that Michael Carrick has gotten a tune out of these players in the last couple of days.”

“They’re fighting for him; they’re absolutely fighting for him. The fans are behind him, the players certainly played until the last second. If he’s going out, he’s going out on his sword.”

The ex-Liverpool and United man added, “If you take the bulk of Michael Carrick’s work [since his Man Utd interim appointment], it’s better than most recent managers, if you take the whole lot. I think this is a better team that he, or the club, has constructed over recent times.”

“There’s certainly fight there, there’s certainly love for him from the terraces; the crowd are with him.”

“They’re coming back from 2-0 down on a regular basis; there’s a lot to be said for that. He’s not lost the dressing room – a phrase that people like to use.”

Everton’s James Tarkowski sounded the alarm over United’s defensive frailties, though he was full of praise for the character they showed in recovering twice.

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