Photo by Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Manchester United fans booed the team following a midweek defeat to Brighton in the Carabao Cup, as it meant two wins in six matches for Michael Carrick’s side this season.
It’s no secret that Michael Carrick is under the cosh following a disappointing start to the 2026/27 campaign, with Manchester United already out of the Carabao Cup. Some might say the honeymoon period is over, but he knows every job has its highs and lows, especially at Old Trafford.
Carrick has issues at United to address, but one glaring problem in many of the previous matches is the lack of urgency. It too often looks like Red shirts are second-best to every ball.
Youri Tielemans suggested United trained with reduced intensity during pre-season. Now, that appears to have backfired. Carrick needs to ensure the team plays at the right level and with an encouraging work ethic.
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Manchester United running stats in the Premier League 2026/27
The bare minimum football fans demand from their players is for them to work hard for the badge on their chest. It shouldn’t be too much to ask when the current lot of United first-team players are handsomely paid, unlike those who took to the pitch in the generations before them.
Last season, as interim head coach, Carrick got the most out of his United players to guide them to a third-place finish and Champions League qualification. It was an almighty turnaround after the mood had been dampened by Ruben Amorim during the first half of the 2025/26 campaign.
Although I am not one to boo the team – never have been, never will be – it’s not difficult to understand why so many did so at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. The Reds were guilty of putting their foot off the gas after taking a 2-0 lead in the 10th minute.
This allowed Brighton to force a comeback, winning 3-2, to reach the Carabao Cup fourth round.
In terms of the Premier League, there’s not much to sing about either. They travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham on Sunday with four points from as many games.
United’s worrying Premier League stats, courtesy of Sky Sports News, have emerged, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out why the team appears to be lacking urgency in games.
The Reds’ highest rank for a metric is 14th out of the 20 Premier League clubs, and that is distance covered, but it’s still worthy of a side sitting in the bottom half of the table. As a collective, they’ve run 449.1km.
It gets even worse when United rank 18th in sprints (379) and 19th in high-speed runs per km at 3.04. Carrick must demand more from his players against Fulham at the weekend. There can’t be any excuses for not getting three points at Craven Cottage.
It bodes well that Fulham haven’t won a Premier League game this season. Let’s hope that doesn’t change this weekend; otherwise Carrick will be in deep water.