Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has explained why Marcus Rashford was substituted during the club’s 2-2 Premier League draw against Everton on Sunday, revealing that the forward was “feeling a bit of something.”
Rashford started the encounter at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and delivered an impressive performance before being taken off in the 70th minute.
Speaking after the match, Carrick confirmed that the substitution was due to a physical concern.
“Yeah, he was feeling a bit of something,” Carrick said in a statement published on the club’s website.
The England international was among United’s biggest attacking threats during his time on the pitch, with Carrick praising the forward’s sharpness and impact since returning to the team.
“Yeah, he’s done very well. As I said during the week, he’s done ever so well since he came back. I thought he looked really sharp again today and dangerous,” Carrick said.
“That final little moment didn’t quite drop for him, but nevertheless, I thought he created really good opportunities, and there was a big threat throughout the game.”
Carrick rues late Everton equaliser
Manchester United were left frustrated after surrendering the lead twice against Everton, eventually settling for a 2-2 draw.
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for United before Tyrique George brought Everton level. Benjamin Šeško later restored the visitors’ advantage, but Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck late to ensure the points were shared.
Carrick admitted that the result was difficult to accept, particularly after his side came close to securing victory.
“Yeah, we’re disappointed, bitterly disappointed. To be up in the position we were in, [leading] the game twice and so close to the end. And all of the work that went into putting us in that position at different stages, to then come away like that leaves us… yeah, it’s not a great feeling,” he said.
“Feels like a defeat, bit of a cliché, the obvious thing to say at this stage, but we have taken a point and we can’t ignore that, but it feels like we should have a lot more.”
‘We need to concede less goals’
The draw once again highlighted United’s defensive struggles, with the team conceding twice for the third time this season.
Carrick acknowledged that his side must tighten up defensively to improve their chances of winning matches.
“The mentality is there. I think there’s obviously things we need to get better at as a team,” the United boss said.
“That’s two strikes from distance, really, two really good strikes from their point of view, so sometimes they fly in the top corner, and more often than not, they probably don’t, so there’s a little bit of that.”
“But yeah, obviously we can’t ignore it. We need to concede less goals to give us a better chance of winning games, but we’ll certainly look at that and keep improving.”
Carrick also defended his team’s game management following Šeško’s goal, noting that Everton’s equaliser came from an outstanding effort from outside the box.
“Listen, I think that one strike from the edge, that goes in top the corner and changes the whole feeling, that few minutes,” he said.
“There’s, obviously, when you look back, there’ll be loads of little things that you can do a little bit differently, of course, but he’s put it in the top corner from well outside the box, so sometimes it’s the one of those things.”
Carrick backs United despite slow start
Manchester United have collected four points from their opening three league games, but Carrick dismissed suggestions that the club had endured a poor start to the campaign.
Asked whether expectations had made the team’s start appear worse, Carrick said: “We haven’t started the season that bad, to be honest.”
He added: “Yeah, yeah, but it’s not that bad, you know? We were a lot closer to coming away with three points today. That’s football, there are moments that we can deal with a bit better, but we’ll be fine.”
Rashford-Shaw partnership earns praise
Carrick also highlighted the growing understanding between Rashford and Luke Shaw, praising their combination play down the left side.
“I think you’re trying to build those partnerships and combinations throughout the team, really, and they’ve played together for quite some time now and have an understanding,” he said.
“And it’s obviously up to us to build the understandings and combinations all the time.”
The United manager added that his side also produced encouraging passages of football through the middle of the pitch.
“I thought we had that quite a lot through the middle of the pitch today at certain times, I thought we played some really good football through the middle of the pitch and obviously Bryan [Mbeumo] got his goal on the right, Marcus and Luke, were particularly dangerous down that side.”
United will now shift focus to their upcoming fixtures as Carrick seeks to address the team’s defensive issues while building on the attacking quality displayed against Everton.
