Soccer
What has happened to Michael Carrick's Manchester United?
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This isn't how Manchester United's season was supposed to start.
The Red Devils suffered their latest disappointing result on Sunday, falling 1-0 to visiting Manchester City despite holding a man advantage for three-quarters of the match. City's Phil Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute for a kick-out at United captain Bruno Fernandes in a moment of madness that should have been the turning point for the home side at a packed Old Trafford.
Instead, it was the Sky Blues leaving their rivals' ground with the three points after Erling Haaland's controversial 60th-minute goal was allowed to stand despite initially being disallowed for offside.
Make no mistake, Michael Carrick's side will have a very real gripe with that game-changing decision, but it is not the reason for Man United's loss on Sunday.
The fact of the matter is that the Red Devils had every opportunity to bury their rivals before and after Haaland's well-executed strike, but they failed to do so despite holding the numerical advantage for most of the match.
Instead of imposing themselves on the game when Foden was sent packing, Carrick's men seemed content to play a patient game that offered very little threat in the final third despite the expected possession advantage. On too many occasions, it looked as though there was no real plan to capitalize on their superior numbers, with United instead simply knocking the ball around until delivering a cross and — unsurprisingly — seeing their attack fizzle out in the face of a well-drilled, compact City defence.
Sure, there were a couple of posts struck. And yes, Bryan Mbeumo should have buried that late chance that required a phenomenal save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
But on the whole, it was an uninspired performance by a team that entered the 2026-27 season with massive promise.
For United fans, it must have been a maddening display to watch. For those of us just hoping for a good derby match, the Red Devils' inability to create real chances until they were already behind was yet another data point against a club that struggled to live up to its stature as one of the biggest and most beloved in the world.
The result leaves United on just four points from their first four Premier League matches of the season, with a single win, a draw and two losses. Just as it was under Ruben Amorim four games into last season.
Carrick was brought in halfway through the last campaign to steady the listing ship, and he did that and more as the Red Devils responded to his management style with the best record in the Premier League over the final four months. Under their interim boss, United channeled the Red Devils teams of old with their fluid, pleasing style of play, which boosted them to 12 wins, three draws and just two losses in Carrick's 17 league matches in charge.
That included victories over eventual champions Arsenal as well as Man City, Liverpool and Aston Villa — the four sides that made up the top five finishers alongside third-place Man United.
A return to the Champions League awaited, and the move to make Carrick the permanent manager was a no-brainer.
However, much of that goodwill has already been spent a month into the 2026-27 campaign, with the Red Devils stumbling out of the gates and looking a shadow of the swashbuckling side that stormed their way back into the Premier League's elite.
Man United were expected to make a run at the title this season. And while there is still a lot of time to turn things around, the early results have been found wanting.
If Carrick cannot get his side to look more like the one that stood tall against all comers in the second half of the last campaign rather than the one that capitulates to rivals despite holding a numerical advantage on the field, questions will start to be asked of his competence on the sidelines and in the changing room.
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