'The biggest problem is not him. It is them.'
Jamie Carragher has called on Manchester United players to drop the excuses and look at themselves in a scathing analysis of the club's current problems.
Writing in his
Telegraph column, Carragher compared Ralf Rangnick's United side to Roy Hodgson's Liverpool, saying "there is nothing about them."
"No passion, no emotion; every game seems flat; they lack energy and fluidity; the players are visibly not enjoying their football," he added.
But the former Liverpool man was careful not to pin the blame on the manager, instead pointing the finger at the players, calling on them to take more responsibility for their performances.
Carragher did not use the word lazy, but cited the running stats of Marcus Rashford (9.9km per game) and Mason Greenwood (9.8km), compared to their teammate Edinson Cavani, who is the second hardest working forward in the league at the age of 34, averaging 11.7 km per game.
"They are young lads who should be leaving everything on the pitch, vibrant with the ball and relentless in their running off it," he wrote.
"Compare their work rate with Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden or Mason Mount and it is embarrassing. They have to look at themselves."
The pundit also called out Rashford - or his PR team more specifically - for hollow excuses after bad performances.
"I am getting fed up with the excuses made on Rashford's behalf by his PR team, especially, spinning a version of events to get sympathy. How about just playing better instead?"
Perhaps the most damning part of the column is Carragher's observation that "every team playing United looks better than they are, often giving their best performance of the season."
"Watford, Norwich and Newcastle have been poor against most sides. Watch their games against United and you can convince yourself they will definitely stay up."
He also cited Cristiano Ronaldo's recent comments about mentality exposing a flaw in the squad, adding: "I said from the outset that signing Ronaldo might expose more problems than it solved. That is proving correct, no matter what some of his ex- United teammates might say."
Concluding his column, Carragher endorsed the 'standards' banner unveiled at Old Trafford on Monday"
"The Stretford End will not be conned by attempts to pin the blame on Rangnick.
"The message to the players could not be clearer: the biggest problem is not him. It is them."
