Michael Carrick has heaped praise on Sean Longstaff after the Newcastle United midfielder impressed in the 1-0 win against Manchester United at St James’ Park on Sunday.
Although it was Longstaff’s younger brother Matty who grabbed the headlines with a match-winning goal on his Premier League debut, the eldest of the pair was still in fine form himself to help the Magpies pick up their second win of the season.
Newcastle-born Carrick has been compared to Longstaff in the past by Shola Ameobi and while the former England international says he is a big fan of the midfielder’s, he does not want to be drawn in comparisons.
“I don’t like comparisons to be honest,” said Carrick, as quoted by the Chronicle.
“It’s not fair on Sean if anything.
“He is carving his own career out for himself and has got his own traits and strengths.”
The ex-Manchester United midfielder added: “I like to see young lads in general get a chance, I really do.
“I’d much rather see a young lad get a chance and see what they’ve got.
“Being on the receiving end (with Man United) wasn’t nice but from Newcastle’s point of view they were terrific.”
OPINION
Longstaff’s brother has been the talk of the town but no one can deny how well the 21-year-old played against Man United in the heart of the midfield. Longstaff is not the most experienced of players having only made 19 first-team appearances for Newcastle since he earning his debut last season, but he is still someone that has shown big improvements to his game over the course of the year. According to stats by WhoScored, the midfielder completed 91 per cent of his passes against Man United and no other Newcastle player who started the match was able to be more accurate on the ball. He also supplied four key passes in the match and only Ashley Young supplied more throughout the 90 minutes as the Man United left-back finished the game with six. Longstaff also completed two tackles and no midfielder in the match completed more. It was a terrific display by the eldest of the two brothers and he needs more praise for his outing. However there’s no doubt that he is so happy for Matty that he does not really care about taking the plaudits this week.
