Wayne Rooney was among the figures who singled out Michael Carrick after Manchester United’s 3-2 comeback victory in the Champions League against Roma on Tuesday evening.

Michael Carrick was left with a mountainous task after Matias Soule and Donyell Malen fired Roma into a 2-0 lead over Manchester United in the first half.

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5. Wayne Rooney thinks that former Man Utd teammate Michael Carrick made his feelings known to the players

Speaking on Amazon Prime Video, Wayne Rooney insisted that Michael Carrick deserved major credit for his role in Manchester United’s comeback performance. Man Utd’s all-time scorer thinks that Carrick’s half-time team talk might have been a catalyst to motivate the United first-team players to fight back in the second half.

“I think Michael Carrick deserves a lot of credit as well, because if you were in his shoes, you are thinking how can I change this around, so whatever he said to the team at half-time that got them on the front foot and got that belief in them that they could win the game,” Wayne Rooney said, as per BBC Sport.

“You felt it, you could feel that they could win the game; everyone was together.”

4. Bruno Fernandes says the win was not about ‘saving’ Michael Carrick’s Man Utd career

Carrick has been walking on eggshells at Old Trafford and every defeat has felt like the 45-year-old United legend has been walking himself straight into a sacking. Speaking after United’s win over Roma on Tuesday evening, Bruno Fernandes put aside the tension with Carrick in recent weeks and insisted that the Champions League result was not about ‘saving the manager’s role’ at the club.

“No, we don’t need to save anyone’s job,” he said on Prime Video, as per Sky Sports.

Fernandes then added: “The manager took a decision of putting myself be on the bench because I wasn’t performing at that level. Everyone felt that was a punishment for the words that I had. If it was, it was right.

“The manager is the one [who] makes the decisions. I have to accept them; I have to go forward with that. It doesn’t change the belief I have in the manager, in the staff and every player that is in this club.

“It doesn’t change my aim to win every game that I have ahead of me. It should be [a turning point].”

3. Kobbie Mainoo says that Michael Carrick provided the much-needed injection of momentum the Red Devils required

Man Utd came close to reaching a 10-man winless streak before Tuesday’s result went in their favour. United faced an uphill battle against Roma in the Champions League and Kobbie Mainoo insisted that Carrick’s input was invaluable for the Red Devils’ half-time team talk.

“We needed a bit of a kick,” Kobbie Mainoo told Prime Video.

“We were a bit reactionary. When we lost the ball, we weren’t reacting as quickly as we could have and the boss really drilled it into us that we need to be more active and take the game ourselves.”

2. Youri Tielemans shows that the Man Utd manager was able to weather the storm of pressure

Youri Tielemans was forced to climb off the bench early in the second half after Carlos Baleba pulled up with an injury. The 29-year-old Man Utd summer signing insisted that Carrick showed a real determination to ensure that United could put up a major fight against Roma.

“There has been a lot of pressure on him and that’s how we repay him, with a comeback like this, big character, big fight,” Youri Tielemans said on Prime Video.

1. Alan Shearer says that Michael Carrick nailed his tactics to ensure Man Utd’s comeback could be pulled off

Carrick was forced to be pragmatic while Man Utd were chasing a 2-0 deficit, including turning to his bench to make key substitutions. Alan Shearer thinks that Carrick’s role in the dressing room at half-time and tweaking his tactics in the second half were essential for United’s dramatic comeback win.

“Great credit to Michael Carrick because they were down and out at half-time,” he explained on Prime Video.

“They were everywhere in that first half, and he had to change and tweak things. I said, ‘What can he do?’

“I didn’t know where he would start, and he must have started in the dressing room, and pointing at a few people, telling them to be brave and courageous and move the ball quicker, and run in behind and they did all those things in the second half and got their reward by getting their win.”