According to Sky Sports, Carrick must solve Manchester United's left-back problem and lead the team to end their poor run against Fulham.

Manchester United's defeat to Grimsby in the League Cup second round last season remains fresh in many minds and became synonymous with former manager Amorim's tenure. While Wednesday's home loss to Brighton was not as embarrassing, Carrick, who replaced Amorim, sees troubling parallels between the two defeats.

Manchester United captain Tielemans admitted after the match that the team stopped playing after going 2-0 down, which was painfully evident in their performance. From the 20th minute onwards, Brighton gradually took control, and their dominance became increasingly clear. Despite introductions of Bruno Fernandes, Mainoo, Mbeumo and Cunha, Manchester United failed to create sufficient danger. This is what truly concerns Carrick.

Since returning to the club in January, Carrick has consistently defended his players after defeats or found positives in performances, but there was nothing to take from Manchester United's display against Brighton.

When Carrick and his coaching staff took over Manchester United, the team defended compactly and used that approach to beat Manchester City and Arsenal. The arrivals of Steve Holland, Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans also brought rapid defensive improvement.

But now questions must be asked about Manchester United's defensive vulnerability this season. Carrick's team has conceded two goals in three of their four Premier League matches. The defence again showed problems in the Brighton defeat. While one goal came from goalkeeper Karl Darlow's error, beyond the goals conceded, the positioning and cohesion of the defensive line lacked consistency.

The left-back position is clearly a problem Carrick must solve. True to form, he has not explicitly admitted to media this is a team weakness, but it is genuinely a serious issue that Manchester United's hierarchy was aware of before the summer transfer window opened.

Luke Shaw is Manchester United's only experienced left-back, but he has missed the last three matches due to a minor injury. Given his age and injury history, despite performing well last season, Manchester United's failure to strengthen the left-back position appears insufficiently cautious.

Carrick tried deploying Mazraoui at left-back, but he appears to have fallen out of favour. In Manchester United's Manchester derby defeat, the less experienced Doku was preferred. Young left-back Harry Amass also does not appear to be a long-term solution to this problem.

With the new season only weeks old, it seems premature to discuss Carrick's job security. Since his January return, Manchester United have accumulated more points than any other team in the league during that period.

However, as Carrick himself acknowledged, Everton's equaliser from Maitland-Niles, Manchester City's goal following a controversial VAR decision, and now the heavy defeat to Brighton have changed the situation entirely. If Manchester United lose at Fulham on Sunday, questions about Carrick's ability to turn things around will become inevitable and very delicate.

Carrick certainly deserves sympathy, as the squad he inherited has many problems. Manchester United's lack of outgoings this summer has limited the team's ability to strengthen further, but is that sufficient excuse for the club's neglect of key positions?

The left-back position should have been reinforced. With Sesko hampered by a tibia injury throughout the summer, Manchester United perhaps should have recruited a temporary centre-forward to share the load, rather than deploying Mbeumo and Cunha in unfamiliar positions. Neither has recaptured the form they showed under Carrick last season.

Ultimately, unless Manchester United can genuinely reshape their squad through the transfer window, the team will remain trapped in this cycle: limited reinforcements while retaining players from the previous manager's era. Perhaps this is why whistles echoed around Old Trafford after the Brighton defeat. The whistles were not just for that match's performance, but possibly also stemmed from a familiar sense of a similar cycle beginning again—another false dawn following hope brought by a new manager.

It is still too early to draw conclusions. Carrick's achievements last season are sufficient to warrant him time, but he must address immediate problems, and ultimately he will bear the consequences.

If Carrick can prevent the team's continued decline—even if Manchester United don't beat Fulham, as long as they produce a positive performance—time could still help him get the team back on track.

Traduit par IA.

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