“Too much punishment from him”, “I can’t watch it anymore”- Michael Carrick slams Chelsea man for Middlesbrough humiliation
Michael Carrick described Middlesbrough’s defeat to Chelsea as ‘brutal’ but had pride in the effort and character his players showed.
Ending their Carabao Cup Wembley final dream, Boro arrived at Stamford Bridge with a 1-0 lead following the first leg at the Riverside.
But four first-half Chelsea goals blew Boro away as errors proved costly. There would be two more to make for a 6-0 scoreline before Morgan Rogers at least gave the brilliant travelling supporters something to celebrate with a late consolation.
Michael Carrick believes Cole Palmer present on the pitch also makes life difficult for them.
Reflecting after, Carrick said: “We’re hugely disappointed. It was brutal really, the way the game unravelled. It was quite a ruthless game for us, with six shots on target there or thereabouts and six goals. I feel massively for the players after their effort and attitude on the night.
“In the end, we got punished; couple of mistakes and quite quickly they punish you for that. So we’re disappointed, of course, but I’m massively proud of how they stuck at it. Second half, coming out in those circumstances is not easy but no one wavered, we stuck together, and we showed our spirit. I was really proud of them for that.
“We were realistic at half-time. There was no shouting or screaming, it was a case of, ‘come one then, what’s next?’ We wanted to make the most of it after coming this far. None of our lads have ever been involved in a semi-final of this size, so that in itself is massive.