Michael Carrick hits back at criticism but Gary Neville sends 'disgrace' warning

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has defended his under-fire players (Picture: Getty Images)

Michael Carrick was dismissive of the idea that Manchester United lacked energy and urgency against Fulham , but Gary Neville has warned him to stop defending his under-performing players.

The Red Devils rescued a point in west London thanks to a deflected Matheus Cunha equaliser in the 89th minute after a calamitous Lisandro Martinez own goal.

Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno won the Man of the Match award, illustrating how Manchester United could have won the game, but Neville was not impressed.

The former Red Devils defender was specifically disturbed by the opening 15 minutes of the second half, which he thought were as bad as any spell he has seen from a Manchester United team.

‘I’ve watched Man United since the age of five and that’s the worst 15 minutes I’ve ever seen. Absolutely pathetic,’ Neville said on Sky Sports . ‘I’ve never seen such a lack of effort. What must Carrick be thinking?’

Asked by Sky Sports’ Natalie Gedra if he felt Manchester United were passive in that period , Carrick said: ‘I don’t think we did. Did you think we were passive?’

He added: ‘Football is a difficult game. We controlled a lot of the first half, we played a lot of good football today. We had a spell in the game, it’s the Premier League , you’re going to have certain spells in the game when you don’t have it all your own way.

Manchester United have won just one of five league games this season (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I think to expect total dominance for the whole game, I don’t think really anyone gets that in this league.’

Pushed on whether he was happy with his team’s energy levels, he simply said: ‘Yeah.’

Neville has warned Carrick that he should not always defend his players, especially when it comes to their level of effort.

‘I’ve never seen a Manchester United team walk out of possession as much as that,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘Michael just said there that he was happy with the team’s energy. Michael’s got to stop defending them, I get why he’s defending them, he’s loyal, he wants his players to work for him, and obviously there’s a long way to go in the season.

Senne Lammens couldn’t keep out a bizarre Lisandro Martinez own goal (Picture: REUTERS)

‘It would be great to see them go and score loads of goals and maybe concede one or two and win games, but there is going to have to be a reset from a point of view of defensive structure, because there’s far too many of them walking on the pitch that don’t think they have to do the ugly part of the game.

‘Very rarely do I say that a team doesn’t work hard or is lacking in effort, because that’s the ultimate criticism that you can give a group of players.

‘I always think football players want to wake up in the morning and they want to win the football match and not get criticised, so I’m always very careful to say that. But that first 15 minutes, that second half, Manchester United without the ball, and generally for the first 60 minutes, were an absolute disgrace.

‘Nowhere near good enough without the ball. Nowhere near good enough.’

Manchester United are LEVEL! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/DCxwlrzf1M — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 20, 2026

He added: ‘I think all of those players can all work a lot harder than that. They’re getting out-run in every single match.

‘They need to work harder defensively or they’re going to have massive issues.’

The Red Devils are 12th in the Premier League table after five games and will return from the long international break by welcoming bottom-placed Tottenham to Old Trafford on October 10.