Michael Carrick damned by Man Utd’s inexcusable failure to be ready for Leeds

Michael Carrick made a valid point when he suggested the ‘game’s gone’ in the wake of Manchester United’s first home league defeat to Leeds United in 45 years. But Lisandro Martinez’s red card should not excuse what came before his cack-handed attempt to play with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair.

Of course it was a nonsense dismissal . It doesn’t need Carrick’s whataboutery or for Bruno Fernandes to go the full Mourinho – “If I speak…” – to highlight that. But it gives United an excuse they don’t deserve.

By the time Martinez was waved off by 3000 jubilant Leeds fans having the time of their lives in the south-east corner of Old Trafford, the game was already gone for United after a wimpish start for which the Red Devils have no excuses.

They cannot be allowed to use their recent downtime as mitigation. The gap between United’s games was their longest scheduled break in 111 years. It should have been a unique opportunity to refresh and re-energise before a crucial run-in. It ought to have offered United a huge advantage over their rivals for a Champions League place .

That it did not, and instead seems to have had a negative impact on the Red Devils, is damning. Especially for Carrick while he is on trial for the permanent manager’s job .

Managers and coaches always point to the hectic, frenzied schedule as the season approaches the final straight. It’s just one of the occupational hazards, especially if you’re good enough to be bossing a team still competing on multiple fronts.

United are not, which has given Carrick the time and influence over his players that almost every other manager covets, even before the schedule offered a 24-day window between a trip to Bournemouth and a visit from Leeds.

The first part of that break, 11 days or so, was given over to his players’ international commitments, during which time there was little for Carrick to gain on the grass. But the remainder, more than half the total time, allowed for United to have some time off, then a mid-season training camp in Ireland before returning to Manchester to prepare themselves for Leeds.

They were not ready. Mentally or tactically. And that is inexcusable.

The players should take some blame for their ill-preparedness but these days, the modern footballer delegates responsibility for their motivation to the manager. That’s a scourge, but one we’ve just grown to accept.

Like the excuses floated on United’s behalf that their break left them undercooked. No one should allow that to go unquestioned given the time and resources that go into match preparation.

The opposite would be a more legitimate excuse and burn-out might offer some mitigation for United’s first-half performance if we knew it wasn’t complete b*llocks.

No, United were simply caught off-guard by Leeds’s intensity. As if Carrick and his players did not know to expect that their visitors would be up for the Roses battle, even if they weren’t badly in need of points to stave off what was an increasing threat of relegation.

We have to assume that Carrick and his staff were reinforcing the message to individuals and the group to be ready for Leeds, because it’s such a basic principle. Either they were and they were ignored, or it was assumed and went unsaid. Neither is a good look.

United were flummoxed mentally and tactically. Injuries and suspensions were no help to Carrick, but United cannot be so light on depth that the absences of Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo make a difference of such magnitude.

Maguire’s absence evidently put Calvert-Lewin in the mood. Martinez and Leny Yoro have their qualities but the Leeds striker zeroed in on their basic physical flaws.

Martinez is a fine one-on-one defender, when fit, but he needs a Maguire or De Ligt alongside him to compete in the physical battles, allowing the Argentina centre-back to focus on what he seems to enjoy most these days: walking out with the ball.

Yoro is not Martinez’s man. Paul Scholes suggested the young Frenchman should be sold this summer, and if anyone is willing to pay good money, it is hard to make a case for United ignoring any such offer. He may be graceful and elegant, and full of potential, but he won’t achieve that while he remains so easily bullied.

Yoro was fouled in the build up to Leeds’ opener – Jamie Carragher disagrees – but Calvert-Lewin certainly won’t be the last striker to relish going up against the 20-year-old.

It must be said that neither United centre-back was well screened. Casemiro’s best work was again going the other way, while Manuel Ugarte, well… this is no coincidence.

United rallied in the second half after going down to 10 men but there’s no glory to be gleaned from that barest of minimums.

More worryingly, it is hard to see what the plan was upon going down to 10. Every team, even those without a mid-season break longer than Manchester City’s close season, prepares for such an inevitability.

United’s plan seemed to be based around Bruno Fernandes dropping progressively deeper, almost as far as Deansgate by the end, to bombard the Leeds backline with a succession of Hail Marys. Leeds almost deserved to concede an equaliser just for failing to give their extra player a man-marking job on Fernandes in the final 20 minutes.

No, Daniel Farke’s side merited the three points every bit as Carrick’s deserved none after wasting their competitive advantage.