Michael Carrick's Struggles at Old Trafford

The boos that chased Kobbie Mainoo to the touchline in the 90th minute against Fulham were not really for him. They were for the man on the bench. Thirty days into the new campaign, Michael Carrick’s romantic return to Old Trafford has curdled into something far darker.

United have already dropped as many points as they did in the whole of last season. Two wins in seven. The numbers are bleak, but the manner of the slide is worse. According to “The Sun”, the club’s hierarchy now see a manager on the brink, exposed by a string of glaring missteps that feel unbecoming of Manchester United.

A Line-Up Torn Apart

Carrick’s first big gamble came at the back. It set the tone.

Ayden Heaven, 19 years old and barely seen since starting on 22 August, was thrown in from the cold against Hull City. The logic? He’s the only left-footer available with Lisandro Martinez out. The reality? He was fed to Oli McBurnie, a bruising, old-fashioned centre-forward, while more experienced options like Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot watched on. It was a mismatch from the first whistle.

The same confusion spread further up the pitch.

Three left wingers were fit and available. Carrick chose Patrick Dorgu, the least convincing of them, to start after a full pre-season. He lasted 45 minutes. That one decision rippled through the attack.

Matheus Cunha, electric and ruthless from the left last season under Carrick, where he scored and terrorised full-backs, was shifted into the centre and lost his edge. Bryan Mbeumo, who had scored in every game as a central forward, was shunted out to the right. United’s front line, once coherent and direct, suddenly looked like a puzzle assembled with the wrong pieces.

Then came the stubbornness.

Against Ipswich, Everton and Fulham – a win, a draw and a defeat – Carrick stuck with the same starting XI. No correction, no reaction to warning signs. Most alarming of all, his chosen back four of Dalot, Harry Maguire, Martinez and Luke Shaw is the very unit that collapsed 4-0 at Brentford in August 2022, a low point in United’s Premier League history. That defence has already shipped five goals in four matches this season. Old scars, reopened.

Big Moments, Costly Calls

If the team selections raised eyebrows, the in-game management has raised the stakes.

United led Everton 1-0 when Marcus Rashford signalled he “felt something”. Carrick’s answer was to replace him with Dorgu. It sent a message Everton seized upon: United were retreating. Sean Dyche responded aggressively, introducing Jack Grealish. Grealish equalised. The shift in mood was instant.

The pattern repeated late on. Shaw, who had just created Benjamin Sesko’s 88th-minute goal, came off along with Dalot. On came Leny Yoro and Mazraoui. The change backfired. Yoro tucked in too narrow, leaving Grealish free on the outside. Mazraoui hesitated at the crucial moment, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles pounced in the 95th minute for a crushing equaliser.

Against City, the stakes were even higher.

Phil Foden’s red card in the 23rd minute handed Carrick a rare gift: 22 minutes with a man advantage before half-time to reshape the game. Sesko warmed up. The Stretford End roared his name. Nothing. Carrick waited until 19 minutes into the second half to unleash him. By then Erling Haaland had already struck what proved to be the winner.

When Sesko finally entered, the reshuffle made things worse. Cunha dropped deeper. Bruno Fernandes dropped even further into midfield. United’s most dangerous creator was dragged away from City’s box at the very moment they needed him closest to it. From that point, United did not fashion a meaningful chance until the 95th minute. Tactical self-sabotage, played out under the floodlights.

Trusting the Wrong Men

Carrick’s selection policy in the cup only deepened the sense of drift.

Brighton had already won at Old Trafford in four straight seasons. This was not the night to experiment. Yet Carrick made eight changes and even named a 15-year-old on the bench. In front of Karl Darlow, making his first appearance in goal, he deployed Yoro and Heaven together. It was an open invitation.

The trio unravelled under pressure. Brighton overturned a 0-2 deficit to win, becoming the first team to come from two down and triumph at Old Trafford since Tottenham did it in 1976. A piece of history, but not the kind United wanted to see rewritten.

Up front, the loyalty to out-of-form names has been just as costly.

Joshua Zirkzee scored twice in Ruben Amorim’s first win in December 2024. Since that night, he has managed only two league goals. The club were ready to move him on in the summer after Everton made contact. The message was clear: his time was up.

Yet in the midst of this crisis, Zirkzee has featured in three consecutive league defeats without leaving a mark. At a moment that demanded imagination, Carrick turned instead to a striker the club had already mentally moved on from.

A Manager Running Out of Moves

Boos at Old Trafford are rarely about a single substitution or one bad game. They are about patterns. About a crowd that knows what a coherent United side looks like, and can see when one is falling apart.

Right now, the pattern is brutal: muddled line-ups, confused roles, timid changes, and big games slipping away. The romance of Carrick’s homecoming has given way to a hard question.

How long can Manchester United afford to wait for him to find the right answers?