Manchester United are already in turmoil just six games into the 2026-27 season.
The summer was supposed to usher in a new era at Old Trafford, with promises made, dreams sold and hopes raised. Instead, those hopes are beginning to unravel at alarming speed.
United have collected just four points from their opening four Premier League games.
Their misery was compounded by a shocking 3-2 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, which sent them crashing out of the Carabao Cup at the third-round stage.
Michael Carrick will inevitably come under pressure, but the head coach cannot be made the convenient scapegoat for every problem facing the club.
Director of Football Jason Wilcox and Chief Executive Officer Omar Berrada must also face the music.
The warning signs were visible before the transfer window slammed shut at the start of this month.
Here are four major reasons why a poorly managed 2026 summer transfer window is already hurting Carrick.
Poor left-back gamble
United entered the summer knowing that Luke Shaw was their only senior natural left-back, yet they somehow allowed the position to remain dangerously exposed.
The club were linked with Newcastle United defender Lewis Hall but never went as far as making a bid to properly test the waters.
Even more concerning, United did not pursue a short-term solution to provide an experienced cover for Shaw.
That gamble has already backfired.
With Shaw unavailable, Carrick has been forced to improvise, turning to Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui despite neither being a natural left-back.
Centre-back depth badly misjudged
Harry Maguire is now 33 and cannot realistically be expected to play twice every week throughout the campaign.
Lisandro Martinez remains a superb defender when fit, but his injury record makes relying solely on his availability a significant gamble.
Matthijs de Ligt is another complication, with his back injury potentially preventing him from starting regularly for several more weeks.
That leaves Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven carrying a huge amount of responsibility despite both still having plenty to prove at senior level.
Their struggles were brutally exposed against Brighton, where United’s youthful defensive pairing failed to provide the composure and security Carrick desperately needed.
Got their midfield priorities wrong
United spent £50 million on Andrey Santos, but the timing of that deal raised serious questions about their transfer priorities.
Santos may develop into an important player, but United still needed two major midfield additions after completing his signing.
Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba were subsequently brought to Old Trafford, meaning United committed significant resources to midfield while other glaring weaknesses remained unresolved.
The problem is not necessarily Santos himself, it is the sequence of decisions that followed his arrival.
United needed to strengthen several areas, yet their recruitment left Carrick with a squad in which the left-back position remained severely under-resourced.
The striker problem left unresolved
United also made a huge gamble by refusing to add another striker to their squad.
Benjamin Sesko has shown plenty of promise, but expecting a relatively young forward to immediately become the undisputed solution to United’s goalscoring problems was always going to carry significant risk.
Joshua Zirkzee has struggled to convince since arriving at Old Trafford and has endured a difficult two-year spell.
United reportedly maintained that another striker would only be pursued if Zirkzee left the club.
The Red Devils failed to find a way to move the Dutchman on, leaving Carrick to find internal solutions.
Stats from Fotmob.com