Carlo Ancelotti Reverses World Cup Mistake with Joao Pedro

Carlo Ancelotti has already corrected one World Cup mistake. Michael Carrick might have to follow suit.

The Brazil coach has reversed his baffling summer decision to leave out Joao Pedro, recalling the Chelsea forward after a blistering start to the new Premier League season. Brazil’s limp World Cup exit in the last 16, combined with Pedro’s form at Stamford Bridge, left Ancelotti with nowhere to hide. The 22-year-old is back in the Selecao squad for friendlies against Australia at the end of the month.

Neymar, whose controversial World Cup inclusion split opinion, is out. So is Matheus Cunha. The Manchester United attacker impressed for Brazil at the tournament and shone for United last season, but his second campaign at Old Trafford has stalled badly.

Carrick has persisted with Cunha through the middle, mirroring his role for Brazil in the summer and for long spells of his debut year in Manchester. The experiment is creaking.

Scholes sounds the alarm

Paul Scholes has seen enough.

The United legend watched Benjamin Sesko, an orthodox No.9, come off the bench and score against Everton on Sunday after replacing Cunha. For Scholes, the contrast was damning.

“I felt it was really timid against Everton,” he 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.”

That last line will sting. Not just for Cunha, but for a manager trying to build an attack with clear identities and defined roles.

‘A total zero’ – Slovenia turns up the heat

If the debate in England is sharp, in Slovenia it is brutal.

The national media have thrown their full weight behind Sesko, and they are not mincing their words about the man currently blocking his path. Leading outlet Ekira tore into Cunha’s display.

“Sesko flies on the shameful numbers of the Brazilian – fans firmly against Carrick,” their headline read.

Inside, the assessment was even harsher. Cunha, they wrote, “completely failed, showing a catastrophic performance. A total zero.” The numbers they highlighted were ugly: zero shots on target, zero assists, zero dribbles, 11 losses of possession, and defeat in every aerial duel.

For a centre-forward at Manchester United, that is not just below par. It is untenable.

Yet Carrick’s stance, as framed in Slovenia, is that Sesko remains more effective from the bench while Cunha continues to start. That logic, Ekira claimed, is “driving fans crazy”, with the demand clear: “Sesko has to play from the first minute, they’re yelling.”

Carrick’s big call

The shape of United’s front line only tightens the squeeze on Cunha.

Bryan Mbeumo has nailed down the right flank. Marcus Rashford, back at his boyhood club and playing like a man on a mission, has the left side locked. There is only one central berth to fight for.

If Sesko returns to the starting XI, Cunha is the obvious casualty.

That decision may arrive as soon as Thursday night, when United resume their Champions League campaign against Sabah. For Cunha, it would complete a bruising spell: dropped by Brazil, then potentially benched by his club within days.

Ancelotti has already acted on his World Cup misjudgment. The question now is whether Carrick is ready to do the same with his No.9.