Gary Neville's Warning to Michael Carrick After United's Late Collapse
Gary Neville has delivered a stark warning to Michael Carrick after Manchester United let two points slip deep into stoppage time against Everton, accusing the new manager of drifting toward the same defensive mistakes that sank Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim.
United were in control at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, seemingly on their way to a routine win, when the game flipped. Everton pushed, United retreated, and in the 96th minute Ainsley Maitland-Niles lashed in a dramatic equaliser. A match that should have underlined progress instead reopened old wounds.
Three games into the Premier League season, United sit on four points. It is not a crisis, but the pattern is familiar: a team that cannot close the door when it matters.
On his Gary Neville Podcast, the former United captain honed in on what he sees as a recurring flaw.
"Teams think they've got a chance against them," Neville said. "I thought they were a little bit complacent and I was saying it after the first goal, they lacked that killer instinct before that period when Everton equalised and then they react again."
United had Everton where they wanted them. Then they blinked.
Neville questions Carrick’s late changes
What truly irked Neville was what happened in the final minutes. Carrick shuffled his defence, and the entire structure wobbled.
One of the most contentious calls was the decision to withdraw Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot late on. For Neville, it was a flashback to the constant defensive tinkering under Ten Hag and Amorim, changes that so often seemed to destabilise rather than strengthen.
"I don't think it's going to go away and that's my big fear," Neville warned.
"I think conceding goals is going to chase them and hunt them down the road and I don't know how Michael deals with it because he's got his best back four on the pitch. I don't know why Shaw went off with five minutes to go – hopefully he's not injured."
The message was clear: United cannot afford to invite pressure, not with a back line that already looks fragile under stress. Take off leaders, disrupt chemistry, and opponents will sense blood.
Carrick accepts defensive reality
Carrick cut a calm figure afterwards, but he did not attempt to gloss over the defensive issues. He praised the quality of Everton’s strikes yet accepted that United’s game management is nowhere near where it needs to be.
"Obviously, we can't ignore it. We need to concede fewer goals to give us a better chance of winning games," he admitted. "We'll certainly look at that and keep improving. There's obviously things we need to get better at as a team."
He pointed to the nature of the goals: long-range efforts, the sort of attempts that usually don’t find the top corner.
"There's been two strikes from distance really, two really good strikes from their point of view. Sometimes they fly in the top corner and more often than not they probably don't. Yeah, for sure, it is [on conceding late]."
Carrick’s words carried a hint of frustration. Yes, Everton needed high-quality finishes. But United again allowed a game to become chaotic in the dying moments, and the punishment was brutal.
Rashford worry adds to United’s problems
As if the dropped points and defensive doubts were not enough, United now face an anxious wait over Marcus Rashford’s fitness.
The forward, bright and aggressive on the left, had combined well with Shaw throughout, stretching Everton and offering an outlet on the break. Then he signalled a problem and came off in the second half.
Carrick confirmed it was a physical issue.
"He felt a little bit of something, so we had to change him," the manager said. "We had good connections pretty much all over the pitch at different times of the game, and Marcus and Shaw have played together for a long period of time and have a good understanding. And you can see that, they look really dangerous down that side, and there is obviously more to come."
United will hope that “more to come” does not have to wait too long. Rashford’s partnership with Shaw was one of the most coherent parts of their display. Losing either for any significant spell would only deepen Carrick’s early-season headache.
Neville’s warning hangs over all of it. United have seen this film before: a team that plays well in spells, creates chances, but leaks goals at the worst possible moments. Carrick insists he will fix it. The table, and the clock in the final minutes of games, will show soon enough whether he really can.
