Takeaways from Man United's win over Liverpool
Cara Banks, Tim Howard, and Robbie Mustoe unpack Manchester United's 3-2 win over Liverpool to clinch Champions League qualification for next season.
Video Transcript
As we welcome you into our Premier League studios, Cara Banks alongside Tim Howard and Robbie Mustoe.
Well, it was a very different story at half time.
It seemed like a very comfortable 2-0 lead for Manchester United.
That changed quickly in the second half.
We had been a bit disappointed by Liverpool's form coming into, the first half at Old Trafford, but things did change, didn't they?
What kind of a game do you sum that up to be ultimately?
Well, it, it became more tricky in the second half 'cause Manchester United gifted Liverpool two goals.
Amad makes a terrible ball inside.
San- Senna Lallana makes a terrible ball as a goalkeeper trying to play out.
That puts Liverpool back level, and that gives Liverpool fresh energy that wasn't there in the first half.
And it's a good look for Michael Carrick because at 2-2, with momentum shifted a little bit through their own mistakes, he regrouped a little bit.
And he makes substitutions that are sometimes, interesting, different, but they worked out.
Dolberg comes on the left-hand side for Mbumo.
unusual.
The goal comes a couple of minutes after that, the th- the third goal to make it 3-2.
So I always thought with Michael Carrick, and I know that I've been a little let's just wait and see, my initial thought was a strong third for Michael Carrick is you gotta give it him.
And that's another good look today with the adjustments, with the way that the game went.
Steve Hollins, his assistant, Lee Dixon talked about him a little bit.
A really good assistant.
It's starting to look like a good package, and the players walking around as a team, a little lap of honor there to appreciate the fact they've qualified for the Champions League now.
There's a ton of support there for Michael Carrick, and I think it's looking stronger and stronger.
So I asked you earlier today- Yeah and you said, "No, not yet."
No.
Has this game changed your opinion- No, not totally on Michael Carrick's future?
No.
But it's ve- definitely going that way.
Again, strong third.
Still on the fence?
Oh, a little bit, yeah.
One leg, one foot off?
Yeah, I, I, I mean, it, it's looking more like a strong third finish, and a strong third finish for me- Gets him the job gets him the job 'cause you can't It, it's difficult to then I know maybe Tim's a little different- Yeah on this, but it's like, well, we did Well, where would it have gone if we If, if they get rid of him and go for somebody else, you know, things were going really well and then we changed.
So again, this is right to the end for me.
Right to the end, but this is a good day for him to win this game.
Also, an interesting part of this, Tim, is the players.
The, the players may be wanting to play for, for Carrick.
M- they want- Right to maybe have their say.
They maybe want to prove how good a leader he's been- Yeah how good a head coach he's been.
Yeah.
What do you think the whole vibe looks like?
Well, I think he, I think he's a strong, he's a strong manager, a strong candidate.
I think he's put himself right in the running to be, to be the head coach next season.
Now, I think there's some strong candidates out there.
We've talked about that.
The experienced candidates who can sort of hand E- every- everyone has their pros and cons.
He, he has not had his plate full with Champions League football and Premier League football- and some of the recruitment and behind the scenes.
He hasn't had all that.
But what he does have is the pulse of the club.
The fans seem to love the way he plays and who he is.
Things have quieted down behind the scenes.
The players do wanna play for him and love him.
He's made tactical switches.
He's made big substitution calls.
He's commanding that technical area a- and he's winning.
So he's got a lot of things in his favor, there's absolutely no doubt.
And Manchester United having beat their biggest rival Liverpool today to sort of, like, solidify things and create that gap, yeah, he's got every, every opportunity to make a case for himself, and they'll allow him to do that.
Do you think the, the, the owners at United and those that make this decision will listen to the players and their opinion of Carrick and his future at the club?
Possibly.
Yeah, they'll certainly listen to the fans.
Certainly to the fans.
And I, and I think, I think it was either Robbie or saying, or maybe Gary Neville in a- in a- in another show that, you know, the back room I mean, Dan Higginbotham actually.
The back room will like Michael Carrick because he's not gonna go in there and say, "I want a different director of football.
You know, I wanna change the academy.
I wanna change all this."
Michael Carrick is gonna be a safe pair of hands in that regard.
And interesting today that Gary talked about behind the scenes he's calmed everybody down.
There's a lot of change at the club, and that's not easy sometimes.
I- it's just like you just try and foresee, 'cause we've seen issues before with different managers, like the future problems, how is he gonna deal with that?
Right now, there's no problems.
There's really, really impressive stuff from Michael Carrick.
Yeah, Gary Neville telling us earlier that he is a safe pair of hands- on and off the pitch.
And for more let's get out to the pitch and Old Trafford.
And welcome back in, John Champion and Lee Dixon.
Guys, you can hear the talk here, a lot of support for Michael Carrick.
And ultimately, chaps, I think a, a, a derby that had a bit of atmosphere in the second half compared to, the pregame conversation that we had.
Yes, it almost needed those two slip-ups- Yeah from Manchester United to give us a game, Lee.
Yeah, it did, and, I think at halftime we were kinda going, "Oh, this second half could be really sluggish."
I think Liverpool did come back into it.
There was always a case of Slot making a change at halftime.
He did tactically.
Gakpo went down the middle.
It changed it a little bit, but he still took two mistakes, as you said, John, to, to get them back in the game.
But I think that's a big result for, for United performance-wise as well because 2-0 up, cruising, then they got pegged back and then you, you see a different side to United.
It The crowd started to get a little bit jittery.
So And that's g- I think that's good for, for Carrick to l- and I think Musty mentioned it.
It's good for him to learn about his players in different situations.
Everything's been going really well for him.
All of a sudden the big rivals come back in it and they've gotta go again, and they did go again, and they There was an energy, there was the substitutions.
So I think it's a good result for, for United both for the points but also the performance.
in terms of Michael Carrick- Yeah we've, we've heard- Give it, you know all the support for him.
But just to play devil's advocate for a moment- Yeah you could have Andoni Iraola- Yeah available.
You could have Nagelsmann after the World Cup.
Yeah.
You could have Pochettino- Yeah after the World Cup.
So why him over them?
Well, I think because you don't know what you're gonna get from them.
You know what you're getting from Carrick.
He's just brought them from where they were when he took over to, to on the brink of finishing third and, and being in the Champions League and having a, a really good run.
They haven't been tested yet, so you've gotta go back to that and go, "Right, we'll test something else."
Give him a load of money, start the project again.
I think the project under him, and the safe pair of hands I think does make a difference at this club.
I think you, I think you do have to have something United linked, and he's, i- he, he's an absolute legend here.
So I, What more can he do?
I mean, th- there's only two teams above them.
So I, I, I think you, you, you take a chance with him.
I don't think it's a big chance.
I think you, you, you give him, you give him the opportunity.
That's what I think anyway.
And you ignore the fact that last time they were in this position they gave it to Solskjaer, and ultimately, ultimately it, it wasn't a happy ending.
No, but I don't think Solskjaer's done as well as he has.
I think the He's got mo- He's more of a Manchester United fit to me.
No disrespect to, Solskjaer, but I just think he, he, he commands the space really well I think.
He s- he stands down there, he looks like a United manager.
Yeah.
And it's all part of reunification really- Yeah of the support, and the players, and the management, and bringing the Manchester United family, in inverted commas, back together.
And a big part of that today was the goal, the winning goal from Kobbie Mainoo, from whom we can now hear
