Jamie Carragher tears into Ten Hag favourite and Man Utd summer signing for Tottenham display

Matthijs de Ligt came under heavy fire from Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher for his positional play and overall display in Manchester United’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham.

Man Utd were outfought and outplayed by Spurs at Old Trafford on Sunday, with Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski, and Dominic Solanke all getting on the scoresheet.

A day on from that humbling defeat, ex-England international Carragher felt summer signing De Ligt, who has worked with manager Erik ten Hag at Ajax and now United, should have done more for the visitors’ opener – where Micky van de Ven cut the home side’s defence to ribbons with a piercing run.

On Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher said: “I’ve noticed this with De Ligt and a lot of centre-backs… I don’t understand why they don’t fill the space and come over. I see this so much. The striker just behind him has got nothing to do with him. That’s Martinez’s job, if De Ligt goes over, Martinez comes across. He’s looking over his shoulder, forget that! Forget it! Get it here!

“It was a brilliant run. It was amazing. But Van de Ven runs because he sees the space. Listen, the full-back gets caught out but again I want to go to De Ligt. This sums Manchester United up for the last two of three years. Pressing but always being late. They’re locked in here, the front three of Tottenham are locking the back four in.”

On a chance for Tottenham in the second half, he continued: “But where is De Ligt?! The right-back has come up here, look where De Ligt is! You’ve got to get over! In every situation there in that first-half, two massive chances and a goal, in De Ligt – a player they’ve brought in for huge money – he’s completely out of position every time. He ends up flying into challenges and you’re leaving yourself in a situation where you can get yellow and red cards.”

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Man Utd defensive issues remain

Ten Hag’s team spent around £200 million (€240.2m , $267.5m) on players this summer, with nearly £43m (€51.6m , $57.5m) of that going on 25-year-old centre-back De Ligt.

But, it seems the former Bayern Munich and Juventus defender will not fix United’s defensive issues on his own. In fact, the Netherlands international may be contributing to their backline problems.

United are now 13th in the Premier League with seven points from six matches. However, the defence is not the only area of concern.

The Red Devils have scored just five goals in the league this term and just one of them has been at home – the worst return in the division.

While Carragher pointed out De Ligt’s flaws, Ten Hag’s side are in deep trouble right now and things could get even worse.

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Ten Hag under increasing pressure

TEAMtalk previously reported that the United boss, who signed a contract extension this summer until 2026, was on borrowed time at Old Trafford.

And while he is currently not on the verge of being sacked, our sources understand very few at the club believe he will be in charge by the end of the current campaign.

Off the back of the loss to Tottenham, club legend Rio Ferdinand felt goalkeeper Andre Onana was the only United player to emerge with any sort of credit, but he did describe the performance as “powderpuff”.

Aside from that defeat and Ten Hag’s future, United have been linked with Lecce left-back Patrick Dorgu – but face competition from AC Milan, Chelsea, and more, for the 19-year-old.

With current left-backs Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia still out injured, signing a new player in that part of the pitch may be a shrewd move.