_SIX ASIDES
Carabao Cup, third round
United 2, Brighton 3_
**This is United’s lowest ebb under Michael Carrick.** That’s not actually saying a lot: the previous low was losing to Hull on the opening day of the season, and it doesn’t look so bad now that Hull are still unbeaten in the league. In 26 games as United manager (including his brief stint in 2021-22), Carrick has lost only five times. It may feel like more than that because three of those defeats have come this season, in the space of six games. But let’s have some perspective. This time last year, United had lost three of their first five games in all competitions; the year before, they lost three of the first seven; the year before that, they lost three of the first five. It’s not unusual.
**What is unusual is for them to lose at home after leading at half-time.** This is the first time it has happened since May 1984, when Ipswich won 2-1. It’s the first time it has happened from 2-0 up since September 1976, when Spurs won 3-2. A proud record has come to a sad end. And, of course, the heist Brighton pulled off is the sort of thing United are famous for, from the Champions League final in 1999 to the Manchester derby in 2018. So yes, it’s painful. But lads, it’s not Grimsby. It’s Brighton, who can beat anybody on their day. They beat City a year ago, they [went to Arsenal and won 3-1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63481003) in the League Cup in 2023, and four of their previous five away games against United had ended in victory. They’re good at smash-and-grab, and Old Trafford, for some reason, is Pascal Gross’s favourite place. Last night he scored his eighth goal there, ran the show and rightly went home with the Player of the Match award.
**Where did United go wrong? The first problem was the selection.** For the first time, Carrick rotated too much. He rested five mainstays – Senne Lammens, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes – who, when the pitch is divided vertically, all play in the central third. If you remove the spine of the team, you do increase the chances of a spineless display. Of the stand-ins, Karl Darlow was shaky on his debut, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven were too green as a pairing, Andrey Santos won his duels but created little, and Mason Mount took his goal cleverly but played no key passes. Carrick presumably felt that with the armband going to Youri Tielemans and Mount lining up next to him, there would be enough leadership in the starting XI, but on the night neither was a match for the all-conquering Gross.
**The second problem was the game management.** Finding themselves 2-0 up after ten minutes, United became too passive. They had only one more shot on target in the whole game – more than an hour later, when Marcus Rashford was sent through by Fernandes and should have scored, though Jason Steele (the rich man’s Darlow) did well to make a save. Games that go to 2-0 usually hinge on the third goal and after showing so little inclination to score it, United fully deserved to concede it just before half-time. Carrick galvanised them to an extent with his team talk: they had more of the ‘match momentum’, as measured by Sofascore, for the next 20 minutes. But, as too often, Carrick was late with his subs. Two of the first three were the right ones – Mainoo and Bryan Mbeumo – but the third was not. It could have been Fernandes, United’s most influential player, the man most likely to turn the ship round. It could have been Harry Maguire, to boss the defence and shout at Darlow. Instead it was Joshua Zirkzee, who, for all his deft touches and team spirit, has proved to be one of United’s least influential players. Here, he wasn’t even deft: four of his nine passes went astray, and so did his only shot. Fernandes did come on in the 73rd minute, but by then Brighton were well on top. He had only seven minutes to dovetail with Rashford – and made the most of them, improvising a through ball with an instinctive poke. After that, United never really looked like landing a goal.
**There were some glimmers in the gloom.** United’s best players were both representatives of two of the club’s great traditions – wingers and Academy graduates. Rashford had two of United’s four shots on target, which was progress, as his fine performances so far have tended to take place some way from centre stage. He was full of energy, gave his full-back a headache and showed some tenacity, creating Mount’s goal by winning the ball back high up and hitting a shot that was too hot for Steele to handle. Shea Lacey, still only 19, became the first United teenager to score on his full debut since Rashford, nearly ten years ago. Lacey showed poise (unlike when he faced Brighton in the FA Cup) and chutzpah. He had only one shot but made it count, conjuring the chance out of nowhere, whipping the ball through the crowd and inside the near post with barely any backlift. Let’s hope JJ Gabriel saw it and felt a little foolish.
**Carrick has brought calm to the club, and he deserves some calm in return.** Especially from the owners, who let him down with their modest summer shopping list. He has won 60.8 per cent of his games as United manager this time round, and even more, 66.7pc, last time. Ruben Amorim won 38.1pc, Erik ten Hag 54.7pc. Among managers who have done at least 10 games, only one in United’s whole history has done better than Alex Ferguson, who scored 59.7pc. Yes, it’s Michael Carrick.
_Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian. He has been supporting United since the days when their entire League Cup campaign consisted of [a battering in Buckinghamshire](https://www.skysports.com/football/mk-dons-vs-man-utd/325029)._