Carragher, 46, was unreserved in his comments while discussing the outcome on Sky Sports with presenter Dave Jones.
Eddie Howe’s team dominated Ruben Amorim’s side and scored twice in the first 19 minutes, with goals from Alexander Isak and Joelinton. ..Continue Reading
In the 33rd minute, Amorim, 39, made the surprising decision to substitute forward Joshua Zirkzee, much to the confusion of the Old Trafford crowd.
Zirkzee, 23, was replaced by Kobbie Mainoo and headed straight to the tunnel before reappearing at the United bench with a drink in hand shortly after.
Even though most of United’s players performed poorly that night, Carragher singled out one player in particular during his analysis on Sky Sports’ MNF.
“Again, I go to [Lisandro] Martinez, he can see Joelinton,” said Carragher when analysing Newcastle’s second goal.
“Martinez, for me, when he first came in, I was very strong on the fact I thought he was too small to play centre-back in a back four in the Premier League.
“And you know what? He proved me wrong to a certain extent, and it didn’t happen too often [Martinez getting exposed in the air], and he actually played really well under Erik ten Hag.
“But I actually thought a perfect system would be a back three, where he’d have the security of two bigger players [next to him].”
“He looks worse in a back three, or he certainly looks worse under Ruben Amorim,” Carragher explained.
A video of Joelinton’s goal followed, and the former Liverpool defender commented that Martinez needed “to be more aggressive” after being outjumped by the Brazilian, who headed past Andre Onana to score Newcastle’s second goal.
This defeat leaves United in 14th place after 19 games, only seven points ahead of Ipswich Town in 18th, who defeated Chelsea 2-0 this evening.
Things might deteriorate further for Amorim’s team this weekend as they head to Merseyside to face league leaders Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
