Carlo Ancelotti Corrects World Cup Mistake with Joao Pedro Recall
Carlo Ancelotti has moved to correct one World Cup mistake. Michael Carrick may have to fix another.
In Brazil, Chelsea forward Joao Pedro is back where many felt he should never have left. After a superb first season at Stamford Bridge and a blistering start to this Premier League campaign, his omission from Brazil’s summer squad looked inexplicable. A last-16 exit only sharpened the criticism.
Ancelotti has now responded. Pedro has been recalled for Brazil’s two friendlies against Australia at the end of the month, his form simply too loud to ignore.
Neymar is out, his controversial inclusion at the World Cup now a painful memory rather than a live debate. Matheus Cunha is missing too. He caught the eye for Brazil in the summer and impressed for Manchester United last season, but his second year at Old Trafford has stalled badly.
Carrick has persisted with Cunha as his central striker – the same role he filled for Brazil and for long spells of his debut United campaign. The experiment is creaking.
Paul Scholes has seen enough.
The former United midfielder did not hold back after Benjamin Sesko, a more orthodox No.9, came off the bench to score against Everton on Sunday.
“I felt it was really timid against Everton,” Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast. “There was no aggression, and Everton were there for the taking. There was so much space, and they never went for the throat.
“The centre-forward position is a bit of an issue because he is not playing Sesko. He is a focal point. It is very difficult to watch a Manchester United team without a centre forward.
“With Cunha, we don’t really know what he is, a No.10 or a wide player but he’s definitely not a No.9 and watching United without a No.9 is a struggle.”
In Slovenia, the conversation is even more brutal – and entirely one-sided.
A leading outlet, Ekipa, captured the mood with a headline that left little room for nuance: “Sesko flies on the shameful numbers of the Brazilian – fans firmly against Carrick.”
Their verdict on Cunha’s display was scathing. “He completely failed, showing a catastrophic performance. A total zero,” they wrote, before listing the damage: zero shots on target, zero assists, zero successful dribbles, 11 losses of possession, and defeat in every aerial duel.
For them, the conclusion is obvious. Carrick’s insistence that Sesko is “more effective” from the bench while Cunha starts through the middle is, they say, driving supporters mad. “Sesko has to play from the first minute, they’re yelling.”
The logic is clear enough. Bryan Mbeumo has virtually nailed down the right flank. Marcus Rashford, back at his boyhood club and playing like a man with something to prove, owns the left. That leaves one slot: the No.9.
If Sesko comes in, Cunha goes out. From starting for Brazil at a World Cup to losing his place for both country and club in the space of a few days – that is the harsh reality now staring at the 27-year-old.
United’s Champions League trip to Sabah on Thursday suddenly feels bigger than the opposition. It looks like a night when Carrick must decide what his attack really is – and who leads it.
