Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hit out at former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll after his tackle left Christian Eriksen sidelined.
Carroll played for Reading in their FA Cup fourth-round defeat to the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Saturday. However, he lasted just 65 minutes after he was sent off by referee Darren England for two bookings.
The towering forward's yellow cards came just five minutes apart. Carroll, who signed for the Reds from Newcastle United on January transfer deadline day in 2011 for a then club record fee of £35m, clattered the Danish playmaker on the hour mark.
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His tackle ended Eriksen's involvement in the cup encounter and has subsequently ruled him until late April/early May with an ankle injury.
Fouls on Tyrell Malacia and Casemiro followed with Carroll's late lunge on the latter giving the match official no option but to brandish a second booking.
“I'm disappointed about that," Ten Hag said. "I think football has to set limits, restrictions, that protect the players. What football wants is the best players to be available on the pitch.
“This is a tackle - and the two tackles after it – that don’t belong on a pitch, because there is a high risk of injuring your colleague. So it's worse and I'm left wondering about that.
“I'm also wondering more, when we were at Crystal Palace, when there was an elbow on Lisandro Martinez. I don't believe there was even a whistle for a free kick and I'm wondering about such things, because it's a risk of injury for the player.
"I make my view about. I think it was quite clear what my thoughts were."
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