Carrick under pressure as United’s miserable start continues
Michael Carrick’s start to the season couldn’t have gone much worse. Since United’s opening-day 5-2 thrashing of Ipswich Town, the Red Devils have picked up just five points from their next five Premier League fixtures — a joint-worst start in the competition and enough to leave United sitting 12th in the table.
Where it’s gone wrong
The alarm bells started ringing early, with a shock 2-0 defeat at Hull City exposing cracks that have only widened since. A 2-2 draw at Everton followed, before United suffered arguably their most damaging result of the campaign so far: a 1-0 home defeat to bitter rivals Manchester City. That loss has been particularly hard for supporters to stomach given the context — United are one of four clubs (alongside Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham) now positioned to pursue compensation claims against City over its financial rule breaches, adding a layer of irony to being beaten by them on the pitch.
Worse was to come in the League Cup. United raced into a two-goal lead against Brighton & Hove Albion, only to capitulate and lose 3-2 — a result that’s become something of a symbol for the fragility running through this current squad. A 1-1 draw away at Fulham did little to change the narrative, leaving United winless in five since the Ipswich result.
The one bright spot
It hasn’t been entirely bleak. United comfortably saw off Sabah FK 4-0 in the Champions League, offering at least some evidence that the attacking talent in this squad can function when the pressure is lower. But a routine European win against unfamiliar opposition has done little to quiet the growing noise domestically.
Mounting pressure
The upshot is that Carrick, who took permanent charge after an impressive interim spell that steered United into the Champions League last season, is now facing his sternest test yet as a head coach. Five points from five league games ties United’s worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign, and results like the Brighton collapse and the home loss to City have supporters and pundits alike questioning whether last season’s form was sustainable or something of a mirage.
Dressing room response
Not everyone inside the camp is panicking. Harry Maguire has publicly urged his teammates to ignore the outside noise, insisting the group isn’t as far away from turning things around as the results suggest. It’s the kind of message captains are expected to send in moments like this, though whether it translates into results on the pitch remains to be seen.
What’s next
United’s underlying transfer business this summer — bringing in Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and others — was meant to support a push back into the top four, not accompany a slide into mid-table mediocrity. With Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, Bournemouth, Chelsea and Aston Villa up next in a run considered moderately to genuinely difficult, Carrick has a clear opportunity to arrest the slide before the pressure becomes untenable.
For now, the club’s hierarchy appears to be taking a patient approach — recent reporting suggests United are not planning an imminent managerial change and are more likely to let Carrick navigate the October international break and beyond before any serious decision is made. But with rival candidates like Antonio Conte and Julian Nagelsmann already being circled as contingency options, patience at Old Trafford has rarely proven unconditional. The next few weeks look set to go a long way toward deciding whether Carrick gets the time to fix this — or whether United’s hierarchy decides enough is enough.