Manchester United often hark back to Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign. They are less keen on revisiting the period immediately before it. When Dominic Solanke equalised for Tottenham on Saturday, however, they were, if only statistically, transported back to the dog days of Ron Atkinson’s tenure. With six points from six games, United have made their worst start to a league campaign since 1986-87.
That does not automatically mean that Michael Carrick, like Atkinson, is destined for the sack. United’s recent history suggests that their chances of unearthing another Ferguson to replace him would be slight, anyway. But United’s start is worrying, in plenty of ways.
They include the literal. United did not look ready for the beginning of the campaign, stumbling out of the blocks in their opening loss at Hull. They have begun almost every game badly. They were awful in the first 45 minutes against Spurs at Old Trafford. It may be flattering to say they were underwhelming before the break against both Fulham and Everton; at least they improved thereafter at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Even the one game they won, 5-2 against Ipswich, saw them go behind and require some fortune to get back on level terms. Their only flying start came in the Carabao Cup against Brighton, though powering into a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes rendered their subsequent capitulation all the more embarrassing.
It poses questions of Carrick. Perhaps the easiest accusation to level is that a calm character has not provided the rousing rhetoric in the dressing room to galvanise his charges. That may be unfair. But it is tempting to wonder what United did in pre-season. They were outrun by 6.5km at Fulham and 4.6km by Tottenham, even though Roberto De Zerbi’s side only had 10 men for the last 20 minutes. That could be a matter of tactics, of conditioning or simply of age; before Sunday’s games, three of the four oldest sides in the division this season were named by Carrick. On Saturday, Youri Tielemans, in the 679th game of his career, looked a particularly old 29.
Perhaps, with Carlos Baleba fit to make his belated debut at the weekend and Leny Yoro showing some pace at right-back, United will soon have a younger look. That Baleba, the costliest of the three midfield buys, arrived injured, after they had missed out on some of their premier transfer targets, was another way in which United scarcely felt prepared for the campaign to commence.
Certainly too many players have started their season in undistinguished style. Bruno Fernandes is among them, and yet United cannot carry on relying on their captain to bail them out. Diogo Dalot, who lost his place to Yoro, is another. Lisandro Martinez was at fault for Solanke’s equaliser; following his own goal at Fulham and Chuba Akpom’s injury-time consolation goal for Ipswich, it was a third concession that can be attributed to the Argentinian. But when, after the World Cup, he was on the bench at Hull, his understudy Ayden Heaven struggled.
Patrick Dorgu, now injured, began in the team and soon lost his place. Andrey Santos has started two games and been dreadful in both. Tielemans is yet to replicate his Aston Villa form in the red of United. Senne Lammens has looked less convincing than last season. Matheus Cunha has delivered little when played as a centre-forward, though more when operating off the left. Too few can say they have done consistently well. That includes the manager.
Carrick had argued that different issues had cost United in individual games: set-piece goals at Hull, long-range shots at Everton. Now patterns are emerging. United have conceded when confronted by 10 men, against both Manchester City and Tottenham. They concede from crosses. They lose leads.
For a team which starts games slowly, they also end too many badly. Ipswich, Everton and Tottenham have all scored in injury time and if Akpom’s goal for the Suffolk side was largely irrelevant, the strikes from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Solanke were not.
It is a bad combination. On the field, too, Carrick has failed to find a formula. With Benjamin Sesko injured, there is no ideal candidate to lead the line. The midfield axis of Kobbie Mainoo and Tielemans has left United too easy to play against. The defence has not kept a clean sheet against anyone other than the Azerbaijani side Sabah.
No part of the team is functioning well. There has been little evidence of improvement in recent games. Instead, it feels that problems have been entrenched. All of which can be wearily familiar. This is a fourth consecutive season they have begun in mediocre fashion.
Carrick at least proved he was able to turn a season around last year, albeit one that began under someone else, and that has tended to be United’s remedy. Rewind 40 years and it did not bring immediate improvement, though Ferguson was eventually transformative. But if he was a one-off, United’s false starts to seasons are not.
