"The Manchester Evening News" reports that Manchester United's defeat to Hull City was not due to a lack of effort, but rather a lack of tactical sharpness, compounded by Carrick's tactical miscalculations. This also explains why Hull City, a newly promoted team, defeated Manchester United for the first time in their history. Moreover, Hull City's manager clearly exploited Manchester United's chronic difficulty against five-at-the-back defenses.

Both of Hull City's goals came from set pieces that should have been preventable. Luke Shaw acknowledged after the match that the team should have been better prepared, a statement that raises concerns. Bruno Fernandes also expressed his worry: "It's like last season; we keep making the same mistakes in every away game."

Manchester United struggled to break down Hull City's compact defense. Jakirovic had set up a system that was difficult to penetrate: well-organized, physically strong, and adept at creating threats from set pieces.

Jakirovic outsmarted Carrick tactically, exploiting Manchester United's chronic difficulty against five-at-the-back defenses.

Regarding his tactical approach, he said, "In the attacking transition phase, we shift the direction of play, give our wing-backs plenty of space, and then deploy our numerical advantage in the penalty box."

"Because Luke Shaw pushes very high up the pitch, and Manchester United also tries to pack the midfield. Our key task is to exploit the gaps that appear between their defensive lines."

Hull City assistant coach Dean Holden added: "Sergei had been considering using a five-at-the-back defense for the past three or four weeks. He didn't want to reveal our tactics in pre-season, so we played with a four-man defense."

"During the preparation phase, we reviewed footage of AC Milan's matches, and Leeds United also used a three-at-the-back system a week earlier, which gave us a reference point. Their formation system was very close to what we envisioned."

Including pre-season friendlies, Carrick has lost five matches as Manchester United manager, four of them against teams using a five-at-the-back defense: a 1-2 loss to Leeds United in April, a 0-1 loss to Wrexham, a 2-4 loss to AC Milan, and this 0-2 loss to Hull City.

In another defeat, though Newcastle did not play with a five-at-the-back at St. James' Park in March, they deployed a deep defensive block. Manchester United still could not break through their low block and suffered a painful defeat.

When asked whether his tactical system has weaknesses against five-at-the-back defenses, Carrick responded: "We haven't lost many matches in the last six or seven months. Yes, we lost today, and I understand there will be many questions from outside, but losing one game doesn't mean everything is fundamentally wrong.

"We've done a lot of excellent work, and there were some praiseworthy aspects on the pitch today, but they were overshadowed by the defeat. The outside world doesn't see this, but we know it internally. Of course, when facing different formations, we do expose many problems.

"We need to find solutions. But losing one game doesn't mean we should discard all our work. I understand the outside world will have this view, that's just reality."

However, Carrick has repeatedly stumbled against opponents with five-at-the-back formations, and this is no coincidence; it has become a clear pattern that the coaching staff must address.

Manchester United struggled to contain Hull City's wing-backs, who, after gaining space down the flanks, delivered crosses to striker Oli McBurnie. A similar situation occurred in the recent pre-season friendly against AC Milan, where Samuel Chukwueze, playing as a wing-back, caused havoc for Manchester United's defense.

During the match, Luke Shaw and Mazraoui were frequently pulled out of position, leaving other defenders exposed. If Hull City could exploit this vulnerability, then stronger opponents certainly will as well.

The good news is that Manchester United will host Ipswich at Old Trafford in the next match. Ipswich uses a four-man defense, so Manchester United should be able to control the tempo better than they did last weekend.

There's no denying that the loss to Hull City was a shock. There were high expectations for Manchester United before the new season, with everyone predicting a strong start for the Red Devils. However, the match against Ipswich offers the team a chance to bounce back.

Since taking charge in January, Carrick has secured many convincing wins through tactical adjustments such as switching to a 4-3-3 formation and reintroducing Kobbie Mainoo. He still has the opportunity to secure another favorable result with his team selection this weekend.

Dalot, Yoro, Mainoo, Rashford, and Sesko should all be given chances to start to prevent the opening day setback from snowballing into a more serious crisis.

This is how Manchester United can bounce back in the short term, but the tactical challenge of how to handle five-at-the-back defenses will not disappear.

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