On paper, Manchester United had, for once, shown consistency. After having managed to finish the 2025/2026 season in third place, synonymous with a return to the Champions League, the Red Devils decided to reinforce Michael Carrick as coach by extending the former midfielder until 2028. MU relied on stability and a rather reasonable transfer window to stay on its path. Indeed, the club dear to Sir Alex Ferguson certainly spent €173 million to bring in midfielders Carlos Baleba (€76 million), Andrey Santos (€56 million), Youri Tielemans (€41 million) and goalkeeper Karl Darlow (free), but it recovered €55 million thanks in particular to the sale of Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli (€44 million).
The balance of transfers remains negative (-€118 million), but for once, Manchester United did not make huge splurges like the three promoted Coventry City (-€155 million), Hull City (-€155 million) and Ipswich Town (-€201 million), or certain big names such as Liverpool (-€238 million), Manchester City (-€189 million) or Tottenham (-€202 million). Unfortunately for the 2008 European champion, the start of the season is not good. MU have only won one match in five games and narrowly avoided a defeat at Fulham this weekend (1-1). Twelfth in the standings, Carrick’s men seem to be in for a tough season. At the end of the match, the Mancunian coach wanted to reassure the club’s fans.
MU can’t do it anymore
“There’s still a long season ahead of us, to be honest. It’s a long season, we inevitably go through more or less prosperous periods throughout the season. It’s part of the journey. It’s not a sprint, it’s a long-term effort. Of course, I’m not minimizing the situation, we would have liked to get more points from it. So I’m not saying that everything is going well. I understand the frustration, of course I understand it, because we wanted to do better and we wanted to achieve other goals. But discouragement is certainly not what reigns within the club and within the group. The players didn’t show that on the pitch today and that’s what will keep us going until the end of the season, without a doubt. » Saving scorer at the very end of the match, Matheus Cunha was not ahead of the media when explaining the collective failure of his team. If the Brazilian striker points to a lack of luck, he concedes that he and his partners do not have the right attitude.
“We didn’t score, bad luck, and they scored in an action that was difficult to explain. Lots of luck. Then we come back into the match and it’s frustrating because, honestly, I have the impression that after conceding this goal, we played much better, with a lot of enthusiasm and effort. It’s just a point. We try to never play for just one point. It’s difficult to explain. I feel like after the first half we played well. That’s what we planned to do at the start of the second half. I feel like they are more invested than us and we can’t accept that. We always play better after conceding a goal, but it can’t happen like that. We were a bit unlucky. I hit the post. Bruno hit the post. We had other opportunities. We need to create more chances, and then the luck will come and we will score more goals. Anything we can do to help the team is acceptable. When I have the ball, it doesn’t change much. Of course, we have to improve in all positions. If there is anything I can do to help, I will. »
Carrick must react otherwise…
A speech that was not really reassuring, even if the Mancunian jeremiads did not soften anyone. Quite the contrary. Coach of the Cottagers, Alvaro Arbeloa fumed after having to concede the share of points. “There were so many things in their favor. Every decision was favorable to them. I knew from the match against Manchester City that they (the referees) didn’t like to see Manchester United lose. We were so, so close to our first victory that we’re a little disappointed now. » For his part, the former glory of the club, Gary Neville did not spare his favorite team. “I rarely say that teams aren’t trying, because that’s the ultimate criticism. For those first 15 minutes of the second half, and more generally for the first 60 minutes, Manchester United were an absolute disgrace. I’ve been following Manchester United games since I was five and this was the most disastrous 15 minutes I’ve ever seen. It was absolutely pathetic. I have never seen such a lack of commitment. We need to rethink everything at the organizational level. They don’t want to deal with the less glamorous aspects of the game. I’ve never seen a Manchester United team work like that. Michael (Carrick) needs to stop defending them. If they continue like this, they will concede a lot of goals week after week. They were lucky to only concede one. All I see is apathy and players dragging their feet on the pitch. They can all work harder than that, they fall behind every game. »
Enough to put Carrick under pressure? Asked about his future a few days ago, the young 45-year-old technician declared that he considered the rumors about his possible ouster to be ridiculous. “It doesn’t matter to me. I know the club, I know my role, I know what is expected here in terms of the level of play. As for the future, the ownership of the club and the time I have left, that has absolutely no importance. It’s ridiculous to think like that in the situation I find myself in. This is simply not on the agenda. It’s been two or three games where we haven’t gotten the results we expected. We have to perform well and we still have a lot of matches to prepare. » But this morning, the Telegraph gave him a little booster shot. “Carrick can well say that it would be ridiculous to question his position as head coach. It says a lot about what is happening at the club and how it is run, but Carrick knows that it is the manager who is the first to have to face the consequences and that he cannot be absolved of responsibility either. » To the wise…
