Copyright: Any unauthorized use or reproduction of The Daily Star content for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited and constitutes copyright infringement liable to legal action.
Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Leeds United did little to ease the pressure on Michael Carrick, whose side have now gone six matches without a win and sit 13th in the Premier League.
United avoided defeat at Elland Road on Sunday, but that alone felt like a modest achievement for a club of their stature. After a turbulent week marked by a defeat at Atletico Madrid and Lisandro Martinez’s public criticism of the club’s recruitment, Carrick needed a result that could shift the mood.
Instead, United produced another performance that raised more questions than it answered.
Bryan Mbeumo put United ahead with a fine finish after Youri Tielemans delivered an excellent cross. But Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalised five minutes into the second half, exposing United’s vulnerability at a set-piece, and neither side found a winner.
The six-game winless run is United’s worst since 2018-19, when their form collapsed after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed permanent manager. That history offers an uncomfortable parallel for Carrick, although the problems facing the current team extend beyond the head coach.
Martinez’s midweek outburst put the spotlight on the club’s summer recruitment, with the defender arguing that United had failed to strengthen adequately. The lack of depth was evident again at Leeds, where Diogo Dalot became the fifth different player to start at left-back this season.
Carrick has made adjustments in an attempt to get more from his squad. Bruno Fernandes led the line against Leeds, with Amad Diallo and Mbeumo either side and Tielemans operating in a more advanced midfield role. Carlos Baleba also impressed on his first Premier League start, bringing much-needed physicality to the middle of the pitch.
But the tactical changes yielded little attacking fluency.
Fernandes struggled to impose himself, while United remain short of a reliable focal point in the absence of injured striker Benjamin Sesko.
Mbeumo has at least provided a consistent threat, scoring his fourth Premier League goal in seven appearances. Apart from Fernandes, who scored a hat-trick against Ipswich in August, no other United player has scored more than once this season. That reliance on a small number of contributors leaves Carrick with little margin for error.
The draw also prompted a warning about how far expectations have fallen. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher argued that United were being praised simply for avoiding defeat at a difficult venue.
“Because they haven’t lost at Leeds, we’re thinking United have done all right,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“But in some ways that is a negative. We are dropping the standards. We shouldn’t really be talking about Manchester United like that.”
Carrick, meanwhile, insists his side can still turn their season around. He described the Leeds game as a “fresh start” and acknowledged that the situation was far from satisfactory.
“I’m not accepting it as everything’s great by any stretch. I’m realistic with that,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Sometimes you struggle. Sometimes there’s a bit where you have to find a way through.”
He added that he had “no doubts” United could go on a good run.
The question is how long the club will wait for that run to begin. United’s problems with recruitment, squad depth and consistency will not disappear with a change of manager, but Carrick is still responsible for finding a way to get results from the players available to him.
Loading comments…