Chelsea legend John Terry lauds Man Utd star and calls for England recall

John Terry was blown away by Manchester United’s performance in their 2-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday, especially impressed by a returning star at the back.

Michael Carrick took charge of his first game since returning to the club as interim manager and it could scarcely have gone any better.

Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu scored the goals as the Red Devils downed Pep Guardiola’s side and looked good doing so.

They played with great energy and attacking intent, looking a vastly improved team compared to the drab reign of Ruben Amorim.

Chelsea legend Terry liked what he saw, saying on TikTok: ‘Wow what a performance from Man United. This is the Man United of old. Attacking, free-flowing football, pace up front.

‘Massive performance from Manchester United today under Michael Carrick. So good to see Carrick get his opportunity.

Terry knows plenty about playing at centre-back at the top level and he thought Harry Maguire did so with aplomb against Manchester City, calling for the United defender to have a spot in England’s World Cup squad this summer.

Prefer us to the others? Then tell Google!

As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.

Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.

‘Man United is such a better team with Harry Maguire in the squad today, back playing,’ said the iconic defender.

‘I’m not sure there’s a more difficult game to come into. A Manchester derby playing against the best striker in the world in [Erling] Haaland.

‘He’s just so good in both boxes and so good on the ball as well. Saw him drive out with the ball and was so comfortable with it. In this form, Harry Maguire has to be on the plane for the World Cup.’

The 32-year-old has won 64 caps for England although he has not played under Thomas Tuchel, but could still make a late push for the squad.

Maguire had been out with a hamstring injury but Carrick threw him back in at the deep end, which he admitted was a gamble.

‘I felt it was a game for experience and knowing what it feels like. It was a big ask for H [Maguire] and credit to him,’ said the interim manager.

‘I think we can take for granted sometimes what players do but for him to play today and come through it. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit of a calculated gamble as well of how long he could play and if he could get through it because he’s literally trained for two or three days for probably eight or nine weeks, so it just shows you what it means really to him.

‘I thought he was fantastic. Between him and Licha [Martinez], they were so solid at the back and gave us the foundation to build on.’

It was an incredible start to his stint in charge and now expectations have risen at Old Trafford for the rest of the season under Carrick.

He is aware that his team needs to produce that level of performance on a far more regular performance than they have been doing, starting with a tough trip to Arsenal next Sunday.

‘Consistency is the key to any success and if you can find that, then you’re on to a winner, so that’s our challenge,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to find a way of doing that. Big one next week, obviously another tough one. But on the back of today, we’ve got a good foundation to build on.’