The Carrick Atletico reaction centres on the chances Manchester United had to take more from their 2-0 defeat at Atletico de Madrid, despite conceding in the opening minute.
The manager focused on missed opportunities and the way United grew into Tuesday’s Champions League match. He said confidence remained intact, but accepted his team needed to find a way to turn performances into wins.
Carrick Atletico assessment centres on four chances
The Carrick Atletico assessment referred to four big opportunities after Pablo Barrios’ early opener. He felt those chances could have made the contest look very different.
“They were really good opportunities as well, they weren’t just little half ones.”
He said United did not finish the first half particularly well, before gaining more control after the interval. Bruno Fernandes had another chance before Leny Yoro’s red card made the task harder.
Control did not bring enough threat
The Carrick Atletico review saw positives in United’s possession and their ability to play through the pitch. At the same time, he felt Atletico were allowed to switch play too easily and put United on the back foot.
Ademola Lookman made it 2-0 in the 79th minute, shortly after Yoro was sent off. Carrick’s frustration was that the game had still been in the balance before those late setbacks.
“We feel the game was there for us, is the biggest thing, we could have and should have got more from it.”
Carrick disputes Yoro red card
In Carrick Atletico comments reported by the Manchester Evening News, the manager also disagreed with the decision to dismiss Yoro for the challenge on Jonathan David.
“I don’t see it being a red card, I have to say. I really don’t agree with the decision.”
The MEN reports that referee Glenn Nyberg went to the monitor after advice from VAR official Pol van Boekel, before showing Yoro a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Carrick questioned why VAR had intervened.
Those comments express the manager’s view of the decision. They are not a ruling that the referee or VAR made an error.
Carrick Atletico reaction looks towards improvement
The Carrick Atletico reaction did not point to confidence as the problem. He pointed to United’s response, control in spells and chances as evidence that belief was still there.
That did not soften the need to win. He described the European away match as a different kind of test, while acknowledging that United must improve parts of their game.
Read the Atletico match report for the result. The quotes are from United’s official Carrick interview report, which carries his post-match Amazon Prime Video and MUTV comments.
The red-card comments are reported by Tyrone Marshall in the Manchester Evening News.
