{"id":55981,"date":"2026-04-13T23:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=55981"},"modified":"2026-04-13T23:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:19:10","slug":"c248d021pqeoat_mediumrssat_campaignrss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/13\/c248d021pqeoat_mediumrssat_campaignrss\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd: Jeers and defensive crisis &#8211; Michael Carrick facing first big test"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It has already been established Manchester United will be trying to sign at least two central midfield players in the summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Casemiro&#8217;s impending departure creates one space but the reality is there is no depth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Kobbie Mainoo&#8217;s absence with what Carrick said before the game was a &#8220;small issue&#8221; deprived Manchester United of an effective link between defence and attack, someone who can take the ball in tight spaces and move it on quickly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It sounds simple, yet when it is not there, the loss is all too apparent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Manuel Ugarte does not have Mainoo&#8217;s control on the ball, or his awareness. The Uruguay midfielder was not Manchester United&#8217;s worst player, but he lacks the ability to lift a toiling team. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He works hard and hopes someone else can create the magic. This is not enough for where United are, let alone where they want to be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It will probably be Thursday, when Carrick is due to speak to the media again before the Chelsea trip, when an indication of Mainoo&#8217;s availability for Chelsea and beyond will be clarified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">If the England international is missing again, it will be a major issue, even if Carrick tried to make light of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;He has been fine when he has played since I have been here,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;This was a tough game, a tough night &#8211; not just for him. When we went down to 10 men I thought he was really important and did a lot of covering for other players.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Carrick also took the bold decision to leave Bryan Mbeumo on the bench for the first time in the Premier League this season. It did not work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Neither Mbeumo nor Amad Diallo have found their form since returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty. Matheus Cunha flits in and out of games and Benjamin Sesko &#8211; who had the home side&#8217;s best two chances and was unlucky not to find the net &#8211; has been more effective off the bench.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It means the burden falls on skipper Bruno Fernandes to create opportunities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Fernandes claimed a 17th Premier League assist, three short of the record for a season, when he crossed for Casemiro to head home. But deep in stoppage time, when he had the chance to cross deep into the penalty area again, he only found a Leeds head. Someone has to share the responsibility.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Man #Utd #Jeers #defensive #crisis #Michael #Carrick #facing #big #test<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has already been established Manchester United will be trying to sign at least two central midfield players in the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55983,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55981\/revisions\/55983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}