Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Manchester United have been beaten by Newcastle and there is reason to be concerned.
A defeat was always coming eventually under Michael Carrick. This late 2-1 loss to Newcastle brought back that painful feeling of a Manchester United loss, one that we had not endured in the Premier League since October.
The good news is that Manchester United remain third after Aston Villa lost to Chelsea. But while I am normally quite positive, I feel it appropriate to take the ‘glass half empty’ approach after the Newcastle loss because there are a lot of reasons I am concerned with the current situation.
Michael Carrick talking to Harry Maguire.
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
We are not playing well
United could still drop out of the top six. We have Aston Villa to play next in a crucial showdown. Then we have a tricky away fixture against Bournemouth. Matches against Chelsea (away) and Liverpool (home) still remain.
We could still blow the advantage we currently hold. It would be false to pretend that Manchester United have been playing well lately. We have been ‘good enough’, and that’s fine, but that can go two ways.
You can either turn those narrow wins into bigger victories and start beating teams comfortably. Or it can all catch up with you and you start dropping points and losing games.
I don’t want losing games to be a habit, or it to ever become acceptable again like it was under Ruben Amorim. I want to see United come out in the next game and blow Villa way like we did against City in Carrick’s first match in charge.
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United do not have a squad
United have dropped points twice under Michael Carrick, and it does not seem like a coincidence that these have both been matches with tight turnarounds.
United drew against West Ham the last time we played in midweek. This time we lost to Newcastle.
These results highlight that United do not have the squad to cope to compete in multiple competitions. Carrick compounded this by making mistakes with his decisions. Tyrell Malacia? Really?
There needs to be major investment in the summer to ensure the squad is deep enough. And we have to hope that we have enough to cope between now and the end of the season.
Newcastle United v Manchester United - Premier League
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
An unsettled front four
Neither Bryan Mbeumo or Benjamin Sesko played well against Newcastle. Neither player even managed a shot on target.
So what now? Do we just run it back and select the same attack in the next game?
Carrick has three options, and one is to keep it as it is. The second option is to drop Mbeumo and start Amad in his place.
The other option is to revert to his initial plan, start Mbeumo at centre-forward, and rely on Sesko as a super-sub.
It’s good to have options. But it’s also clear that Carrick may not know his best attack for the Villa game, and that concerns me.
Noussair Mazraoui’s injury changed the game, and I am worried at the way defensive injuries are beginning to pile up.
I have no faith Matthijs de Ligt will be back for the next game, while Lisandro Martinez is a big question mark. Patrick Dorgu is more of an attacker these days but I’d take him as a defender.
I don’t want to see Tyrell Malacia on the pitch again. So we could be relying totally on Luke Shaw, who has failed to complete the past two games.
Carrick will need to get creative, and find other left-back options.
Casemiro graphic
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We can’t cope without Casemiro
At half-time I felt pretty confident Manchester United would go on and win against Newcastle or at least get the draw. Casemiro’s header showed the team’s resiliency to bounce back from 1-0 down, setting up a second half that would be tipped in our favour, thanks to Jacob Ramsey’s red card.
It did not pan out like that. And the moment I feared defeat was on the card was when Casemiro was substituted in the 61st minute.
We simply cannot cope without Casemiro.
Is that testament to the Brazilian’s brilliance? Or is is Manuel Ugarte a completely sub-standard replacement? The answer could be a bit of both.
The evidence has been there all season. Whenever Casemiro plays, we are fine. When Manuel Ugarte plays, we usually drop points.
Casemiro’s substitution was an early one, and it felt like a huge risk from Carrick. You can point to Malacia’s error for costing the game instead of Ugarte being involved, but it’s more than that.
United are a better, more imposing, more confident team when Casemiro is on the pitch.
With no game this weekend, could we just have played him the entire 90 minutes?
What we really need is for Casemiro to be 10 years younger. Finding a replacement is a mammoth task this summer.