According to The Guardian, Manchester United currently sit 13th in the Premier League, having accumulated only 4 points from their opening 4 matches. On Wednesday, Manchester United will host Brighton in the League Cup, followed by an away match against Fulham on Sunday. Is Red Devils' performance truly as poor as their league position suggests?

In December 2018, amid the chaos of Mourinho's final months in charge, Solskjaer was appointed interim manager. He then led the team to 14 wins in 19 matches and was made permanent manager in March 2019. However, the team subsequently experienced a sharp decline, winning only 2 of their last 10 matches, and Manchester United finished sixth—the same position Solskjaer had inherited.

Last season, Carrick took over as interim manager after Amorim collapsed and was sacked, revitalizing team morale and ultimately securing third place. However, after his permanent appointment, results began to deteriorate again. Solskjaer's tenure was unstable, his job security always uncertain, which ultimately led to his dismissal in November 2021. This does not necessarily mean his former teammate and assistant will follow the same path. Yet after how many more poor results will Jason Wilcox be blamed for another hasty appointment of a popular former Manchester United player? One sign that the football director may have doubts about Carrick is the short length of his contract, which only runs until 2028.

On Sunday, Foden was sent off at Old Trafford just 23 minutes into the match, giving Manchester United a numerical advantage. Yet Carrick's team produced a laboured display. The midfield axis of Mainoo and Tielemans failed to control the game or create opportunities for Bruno Fernandes, Mbeumo, Cunha, and Rashford in attack. For the first time in Carrick's opening 12 Premier League home matches, Manchester United's xG fell below 1.0, at just 0.95. This should be a greater concern for Carrick than the nearly absurd VAR decision that allowed Haaland's winning goal. The same problem was evident in the 0-2 away defeat to Hull City at the start of the season, where Andre Santos partnered Tielemans in midfield, and the team barely posed an attacking threat, with Carrick's side appearing to lack any initiative whatsoever.

One cannot help but wonder why the club spent the entire summer transfer window pursuing a left-back but failed to secure the position. Lewis Hall from Newcastle was the primary target, while Skelly from Arsenal and Raum from RB Leipzig were also on the list. Identifying a position that needs reinforcement and then failing to complete the signing appears amateurish, and Carrick is clearly frustrated with the outcome.

Instead, the club recruited 3 midfielders: Tielemans, André Santos, and Baleba. Including Mainoo and Ugarte—the latter still sidelined by a long-term injury—the squad actually has a surplus of midfielders. The funds used to recruit Santos, for instance £48 million plus £2 million, could have been entirely invested in a left-back. Four games into the season, this hidden weakness has materialized. Left-back Luke Shaw has been absent through minor injury and missed the Manchester City match, forcing Carrick to temporarily deploy Dalot there instead. In the corresponding fixture last season, the Danish player was playing as a left winger and scored a goal. On Sunday, when Gvardiol crossed from Manchester City's right wing and Haaland scored at the far post, Dalot challenged the Croatian defender rather than marking the Manchester City striker in his own left-side defensive zone. Manchester City's attack also began with a poor Dalot header that sent the ball back to the opposition.

Manchester United spent €148 million this summer on Santos, Tielemans (£35 million), and Baleba (£65 million). What has been the result so far? Santos has started only once, in the defeat to Hull City; Tielemans has been consistently unimpressive despite starting all four league matches. As for Baleba, the most publicized recruit has not played a single match due to injury and is not expected to return until after the international break. Early in the season, such issues need not be problematic, provided results are satisfactory.

In an interview at Manchester United's preseason training camp in County Kildare in August, Tielemans acknowledged that no other club was willing to activate his £35 million release clause at Aston Villa. Now, as Manchester United seeks to salvage their season, he must deliver more both as a player and as a leader.

Sesko, after recovering from an early-season injury, has appeared as a substitute in all of Manchester United's league matches and also started and scored in the home match against Sabah. The Slovenian striker has also scored in the 2-2 draw against Everton, making him Manchester United's third-highest scorer in the league, behind Bruno Fernandes' 3 goals and Mbeumo's 2 goals. Cunha and Rashford have started 4 and 3 times respectively, but neither has scored in the league. If Manchester United start Sesko away at Fulham, his direct attacking style might be worth trying.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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