How Jamie Carragher's relentless criticism has finally rattled Erik ten Hag

Most football managers claim they're impervious to the opinions of pundits and the media. You'd expect the straight-talking, no nonsense Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag to be one of them.

But the mask slipped a little this week when Ten Hag hit back at Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher for his criticism of United this season.

'First of all, some analysts are very objective in their comments, [give] very good advice, some are very subjective,' Ten Hag said in his Tuesday press conference.

'Jamie Carragher from the first moment on has criticised and now he wants to make his point.'

It came after Carragher - and fellow Monday Night Football guest Gael Clichy - spent five minutes criticising the positioning and pressing of United's players using clips from Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Fulham.

Using a giant screen in the Sky studio, Carragher suggested United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo was unsure of where he needed to be positioned right from the kick-off.

He then analysed how four United players essentially marked themselves out of contention for a Raphael Varane pass during the first-half, leading to a crazy spirit back when Fulham turned over the ball.

Clichy then picked apart United's poor organisation in the lead-up to Fulham's 97th-minute winner scored by Alex Iwobi.

Both Carragher and Clichy made very valid points but it's the regularity of the ex-Liverpool man's criticisms that seems to have touched a nerve with Ten Hag.

So does the United boss have a point?

October - United resemble a team 'at the end of a cycle'

At the time of these Carragher remarks in late October, United had won three games in a row against Brentford, Sheffield United and Copenhagen - but none were convincing.

Ahead of the