"Jamie Carragher is one of them" - Ten Hag hits out at Liverpool icon over 'subjective' criticism of Manchester United

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hit out at Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher following the Englishman's critical comments about his team's tactics in their 2-1 Premier League loss to Fulham. The Dutch tactician accused the former Reds defender of being biased in his analysis.

Manchester United endured a frustrating outing as they struggled against a resilient Fulham side at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday, February 24. The Red Devils performed poorly, especially in defense, and were made to pay for it as the visitors scored twice to steal all three points.

Commenting on the game, Jamie Carragher criticized Erik ten Hag's men's defensive setup during a segment of Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football show. He said (via The Independent):

“They defend like a team I have never seen before. What I mean by that is that they like to press high with a deep block. It’s impossible. They are trying to do two things at the same time. You can only do one thing or the other.”

Although Ten Hag admitted that he was caught off guard by Fulham's tactics, the Dutchman called out Carragher for being unfair and subjective in his analysis.

"First of all, some analysts are very objective in their comments, very good advice. Some are very subjective. Jamie Carragher is one of them,” the Manchester United boss said.

“From the first moment on he has criticised and now he wants to make his point. Probably in the first half an hour, he had a point. Fulham, the midfield setup surprised us and then we had to find the solutions. And after half an hour, we found the solutions.”

The Manchester United manager went on to state that his side need to step up from their unacceptable performance versus Fulham when they face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

"I was not pleased with the performance in defending, especially over the left side, how we did that pressing because they came out, especially in the first half an hour, several times over the left side can’t happen," he said. "That has everything to do with willingness and spirit and passion. In the previous weeks that was very good for this team and therefore we won the football games."

“I know footballers are not robots, sometimes they have bad days. But it can’t be, it’s unacceptable and we have to do better tomorrow. But in the weeks before we have done very well,” the tactician added.

Erik ten Hag will be eager to earn a victory during the trip to Forest, considering that the FA Cup is his team's only realistic chance to claim silverware this season.

How Erik ten Hag's Manchester United have fared so far this season

The Red Devils have had a tough 2023/24 campaign, with their sluggish start to the season doing serious damage to their chances of finishing the term on a high note.

Manchester United were eliminated from the Champions League group stage after suffering four defeats in six games. They failed to defend their Carabao Cup trophy, getting eliminated from the competition after a 3-0 loss against Newcastle United in the Round of 16.

United are out of the Premier League title race as well and will need to buckle up to finish in the top four.

Erik ten Hag's men are currently ranked sixth in the standings with 44 points from 26 games, eight points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.