Manchester United, authors of 20 top-flight titles and three European Cups, enter the November international break a point off the bottom of the Premier League. The club has not finished higher than third in half a decade, and its lowest finish in 22 years was third place. Its squad includes 15 players who cost at least $50 million each, yet the team looks unlikely to win a Premier League match over 90 minutes.
There was no visible jubilation when the club, at home, came back from two separate two-goal deficits to rescue a point against fellow Champions League side. That is a serious problem, especially after a comeback win against AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League.
It looks as though no one in a United shirt knows how to respond to positive moments. The players seem to guard their feelings like a middle-schooler who suspects a crush might like them back but cannot quite believe it. Put more bluntly, this team has become a constant fight-or-flight reaction that never finds relief from fight mode.
A manager caught in the middle
Carrick is a likable manager who is over his skis, and he happens to be a legend from his playing days. Fans cannot decide whom they like less: the administrators who put this team in their shirts and handed the full-time job to Carrick, or the players who have largely shrunk and left him stranded.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson left, the club has lost with a who’s who of managers. Two of his successors now have Real Madrid atop the Champions League table and AC Milan in a Serie A title conversation. Another has a rival Premier League club in the top-four discussion.
The numbers tell a different story
The underlying numbers do not match a 19th-place team, and that is the core problem. United have a club mentality issue from top to bottom, one that reaches back through the years. Former players who won so much at the club still express disbelief when the Red Devils play poorly, whether they are managed by a former teammate or by one of the biggest names in the game.
For many years, the club was known for outperforming logical conclusions. It snared wins from average performances and even stretched games into the legendary “Fergie Time” at Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams.
Maybe that is the real issue. United are measured by a champions’ yardstick even though they have not fit that description for ages. The club has sent strong players packing in pursuit of improvement, including legends like Casemiro and homegrown talents like Scott McTominay, the 2024-25 Serie A Player of the Year. Others remain on the strength of past performances.
Manchester United by the numbers reveal a mentality problem. Entering the weekend, United ranked first in the Premier League for shot attempts, by a margin of 15. The rest of the picture is far less encouraging:
- Set-piece goals: 20th
- Set-piece goals conceded: 19th
- Ground duels won: 10th
- Aerial duels won: 12th
Those figures are poor, but they are 19th-place poor. The team has the talent to compete for a top-four spot, yet it performs over long stretches as a mid-table side. That alone would put most coaches in hot water. United have taken a mid-table level of play and slid into the bottom three because of mind-numbing mistakes and a lack of focus and commitment from minute to minute.
If Jurgen Klopp had his “Mentality Monsters” at Liverpool, Carrick has “Melancholic Messes.” This Manchester United concedes at the strangest moments and in the most avoidable situations. The team switches off like a faulty fuse and is perhaps the best in the league at reading the post-match hymn sheet.
A recent turnaround that has faded
The struggles stand out even more because Carrick appeared to have cleaned up a messy ship last season. He took over Ruben Amorim’s out-of-order team and reassembled it into a working unit that climbed to third place in the table.
Only one player of consequence remains from that side: Casemiro, who has since departed. United bought three players to fill his spot. Ten games into the season, the midfield remains unsettled and at times looks untenable.
Carrick is not the right man for the job in the long term, and he lacks the tactical acumen or managerial experience to steer this team back into the top four. To be fair, he was never going to turn down the job, and there were reasons to hope he might show skills that have not yet appeared in his managerial career. He will not resign from a club he loves so much. He is stuck, and given how big a decision it was to hand him the job full-time, the club is stuck with him too.
Whether United cut ties with him during the international break or let him ride things out until January, the club needs to find real solutions for this current squad.
It was admirable that United fought back from one two-goal deficit and then did it again to earn a point. They bailed out their keeper and then themselves. Most clubs would still be celebrating that moment. This side, however, looks like it is preparing for the next 2-0 deficit. Where will they finish? Would they take eighth today?