Erik ten Hag must make obvious Manchester United tactical change to save his job

Taking potshots at a former Liverpool player and a scouser who never hides his support for his former club when on TV might usually go down well with Manchester United fans, but for Erik ten Hag picking a fight with Jamie Carragher might not be the tap-in it usually is.

Ten Hag was responding to Carragher's tactical criticisms of United during Sky Sports' Monday Night Football and accused the former Liverpool centre-back of being "subjective" in his approach to punditry and critical of Ten Hag's United from "the first moment".

The United manager did concede some ground, suggesting Carragher had a point for the first half-hour of Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Fulham, but that after that his team "found the solutions". It didn't stop Fulham creating chances, however, and the game was goalless at that point and finished in a 2-1 win for the visitors.

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Since his appointment as United manager it has become clear that Ten Hag doesn't take criticism lying down and it was no surprise to see him hit back at Carragher, who had presented a detailed tactical analysis of United's failings on Monday night. The problem for Ten Hag is that the points raised related to more than just a shaky 30 minutes against Fulham. His side have been too easy to play against all season.

Carragher showed the gaps between defence and attack in the United set-up, the uncertainty for midfielders in what they should be doing and the lack of options when they do have the ball. Carragher and his fellow pundit Gael Clichy also presented a series of statistics that show how teams have been getting at United