Manchester United vs Hull City: Carrick rejects passion claim after 0-2 defeat

Michael Carrick turned Manchester United's 0-2 defeat at Hull City into a defence of the team's mentality. Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy scored first-half goals for the hosts, but Carrick said the problem was not effort and insisted the decisive moments came from set plays. Bruno Fernandes later said United had repeated last season's away-game mistakes.

Carrick's response to the criticism

Carrick was asked about suggestions that United had lacked passion, and he pushed back hard. "Oh come on, that's ridiculous. You played football, you understand. That's a ridiculous thing to say. Just because you get beat doesn't mean you don't care about it," he said to goal.com.

He pointed to the way the game was lost. "Their two goals came from set plays. Other than that, we had opportunities," Carrick said. He also stressed that United would not overreact to one result, adding: "We just don’t all have to shout and scream and create some chaos. Calmness doesn’t mean there is not emotion. We have lost one game and it is not a nice one."

The setup was familiar enough. Carrick started in a 4-2-3-1, and only one United starter was rated 5.5 or below. Senne Lammens made two saves, while Hull's goalkeeper was given an 8.2 rating.

Fernandes on the same old problems

Fernandes took a different route when he spoke after the match. "Same mistakes as we did last season, every away game we give too much of the ball to them," he said to independent.co.uk.

His criticism was not limited to possession. "In the first 20 minutes, the goalkeeper was the one with the most touches. We needed to press more, be more aggressive, and then again we need to work on set-plays and not concede these type of goals," Fernandes said. He added: "You need to match everything in intensity, aggression and everything. We had that apart from two set pieces. That cost us the game."

Fernandes was United's best-rated starter at 7.3 and completed 85 passes, but the performance still ended with defeat at Hull City. Wayne Rooney then called Fernandes' quote "strange" and said United must become a team opponents are scared of playing against.

United's next chance to respond comes in the Hull City vs Manchester United fallout, with the argument now sitting on the same two themes: set pieces and standards.