Carrick slammed by Man United legend for coddling players after ‘worst 15 minutes ever’ in Fulham loss

Gary Neville has launched a furious attack on Manchester United’s performance in their 1-1 draw against Fulham, accusing Michael Carrick of protecting players who are failing to put in enough effort.

The former United defender described the opening 15 minutes of the second half as the worst he had seen from his boyhood club after Matheus Cunha’s late equaliser rescued them from another defeat.

United looked set for a third consecutive defeat after Lisandro Martinez turned Calvin Bassey’s effort into his own net, but Cunha’s 89th-minute strike, which took a heavy deflection off David Affengruber, salvaged a point at Craven Cottage.

The result leaves United 12th with five points after five matches, their joint-lowest total at this stage of a Premier League season.

Neville, however, was far more concerned by what he saw from the players.

"I rarely say teams don't make an effort because that's the ultimate criticism. That first 15 minutes of the second half, and generally the first 60 minutes, United were an absolute disgrace," he said on Sky Sports.

"I've watched Man United since the age of five and that's the worst 15 minutes I've ever seen. Absolutely pathetic. I've never seen such a lack of effort."

Neville claimed United were being outrun and criticised their approach without the ball.

"I've never seen a Manchester United team walk as much as that. Michael (Carrick) needs to stop defending them. If they carry on like that, they will concede so many goals week after week. They were lucky to concede one," he added.

Carrick rejected the suggestion that United were passive, pointing instead to their attacking numbers and the reaction after conceding.

"We should have won the game, we created enough. We had a lot of good play. The goal that we did concede is one of them goals," Carrick told Sky Sports.

The United boss also pointed to Bernd Leno’s performance, with the Fulham goalkeeper making five saves and denying Lisandro Martinez, Bryan Mbeumo and Marcus Rashford. Bruno Fernandes and Cunha also struck the post.

"I don't think we were (passive). Do you think we were passive?" Carrick responded when challenged on his team’s approach.

When told United had not registered a shot during the opening 15 minutes of the second half, he added: "That doesn't mean we were passive. It's the Premier League, you're going to have spells where you don't have it all your own way."

Carrick maintained that United could learn from the performance, but Neville’s criticism has placed renewed scrutiny on the team’s work rate and the manager’s response.