Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag hits back at Jamie Carragher's brutal Fulham analysis

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hit back at Jamie Carragher following his analysis of their 2-1 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League.

Although the Dutchman conceded that the 46-year-old has a «point» over his review of their 30-minute showing against the Cottagers, Ten Hag highlighted Carragher as one of the analysts who are «very objective» in their thoughts on his club. The Red Devils slipped to their 15th defeat of the season in all competitions after Alex Iwobi's 97th-minute winner.

Carragher slammed United during their segment of Monday Night Football, prior to West Ham United's win over Brentford. The defeat for Ten Hag's side saw them miss the opportunity to go within a point of Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place in the Premier League, which would have reaffirmed their Champions League qualification ambitions.

«I want to highlight (Kobbie) Mainoo, who has been fantastic since he came in, but the problem I have — it's not a criticism of him — what are his instructions before the game?» Carragher said.

«This is straight from kick-off, he is not sure whether he should close down the holding midfield player or looking at the number 10, he's caught, straight from kick-off — you should know your jobs straight from kick-off and that's down to the coaching staff. Twenty seconds into the game against Fulham, it's been the problem for Manchester United all season, there's space between the back four and the midfield. We go to the reason why they're poor defensively and can't cope with counter-attacks, they've got no pace at the back and a lack of legs in midfield.

»People say 'there's no patterns of play at Manchester United, how do they play and what's the philosophy?' I'll tell you why there's no patterns of play