Michael Carrick’s position as Manchester United head coach is coming under scrutiny as defeats pile up - but is he really to blame?
Here we go again, then. No matter how promising the start of a new Manchester United manager’s reign seems to be, it always turns out to have been little more than a honeymoon period. Now it’s Michael Carrick’s turn to face the pitchforks.
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Wednesday evening’s capitulation against Brighton & Hove Albion in the EFL Cup has turned frustration into something approaching panic. A disappointing defeat in the Manchester Derby is one thing, but to collapse to a home defeat from 2-0 up is another. Just four months after he signed a new two-year contract, Carrick’s position appears to be under threat.
This seems to be the natural way of things at Old Trafford in the post-Ferguson years. Patience is in short supply at the best of times and the mood in both the stands and in the dressing room always appears to be balanced on a knife-edge. But as United prepare for what feels like a must-win match against Fulham, the question must be begged – is this really all Carrick’s fault?
Is Michael Carrick to blame for Manchester United’s bad form?
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On the face of it, the evidence presented by Wednesday night’s debacle against Brighton is pretty damning. Have landed an early one-two punch which probably should have been good for a knockout, Manchester United went limp. Not only did Brighton dust themselves down and win, it was remarkably easy for them.
By the time that the final whistle blew, Brighton had enjoyed more shots, more possession, more expected goals and – rather more importantly – more actual goals too. This wasn’t a freak result. The Seagulls were the better side from the moment that Mason Mount finished celebrating United’s second goal.
Carrick met the justified criticism which followed with a shrug. A performative shrug, perhaps, but one which reflects the fact that his employers aren’t likely to fire him just yet, even if they do lose to Fulham on Sunday, and which may also reflect his own laudably relaxed attitude towards both success and failure.
"I don't feel under pressure," he told the press. "I understand what goes on outside and how the world works, but it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is winning games, having a good feeling around the place and a good feeling around the group to know we're moving in a good direction."
Carrick is too composed of a man to throw his toys out of the pram even after such a supplication, but it would be a surprise if he wasn’t feeling a little bit of heat under the exterior. It was, after all, his team selection, his system – and his poor start to a season which promised more than it has delivered.
He’ll also be all too aware that Manchester United don’t have a good feeling about the place, aren’t moving in a good direction, and aren’t winning games – three things which tend to go hand in hand. If Carrick keeps losing games, then no amount of stoicism and stiff upper lip will save his job.
It will also take all of the stoicism that he can muster for him to stay so calm in front of his players. Because although the buck may stop with the manager, it’s hard not to wonder how much of the blame he really deserves for Wednesday’s defeat.
The defending which led to all three of Brighton’s goals wasn’t just catastrophically poor but also seemingly lazy. Ayden Heaven was caught strolling back towards goal for Charalampos Kostoulas’ strike shortly before half-time, then combined with Yoro to leave a laughable amount of space for Pascal Groß to score an easy equaliser. Then, a few minutes later, Yoro and Diogo Dalot gave Maxim De Cuyper the freedom of the penalty area for the winner. It was breathtakingly bad.
The head coach may ultimately be responsible for the way that his players co-ordinate themselves on the field and for how they comport themselves when things go south, but one has to question how responsible Carrick is meant to be for the fact that two of his four fit first-team centre-backs - one of whom cost £60m – seemingly lack the most basic positional sense.
Mental lapses happen to the best players, and they certainly happen to the youngest such as Heaven and Yoro. What Carrick has at his disposal, however, is a team which has seemingly fallen into a continuous collective mental lapse. This isn’t necessarily a matter of a poor system or inept technical coaching, so much as of working out why the team has been derailed so swiftly and easily - and whether it’s good enough in the first place.
Will Man United sack Carrick?
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One explanation for Manchester United’s recent form which might exculpate Carrick is that the quality within the squad is questionable given the club’s ambitions. There are few positions in which they can claim primacy over their immediate rivals for continental qualification. Based on the way they defended against Brighton, they certainly don’t have the best back line in the Premier League.
The incompetence with which the club have handled their transfer dealings for some time is still biting them, even after the investments of the past season. There is a lack of excellence and a lack of depth – and the jury is out on this summer’s much-needed midfield rebuild.
United spent £70m on an injured Carlos Baleba off the back of an extremely underwhelming season at the Amex Stadium, and £50m on a largely unproven Andrey Santos. Youri Tielemans was probably a safer bet and provided some much-needed experience, but it’s debatable as to whether he’s at his best in a defensive double pivot. United have replace Casemiro with two unknown quantities and a player halfway out of position.
Maybe it will all come together once Baleba is back from the ankle issue which has dogged him since he signed, but you have to squint quite hard to see a squad which looks worthy of the top four. On paper, there is a solid argument that Carrick overachieved last season given his resources, and that we’re now returning to normality for a fundamentally mediocre side.
On the other hand, last season proved that this team is capable of a little bit more than mediocrity when suitably motivated – but they have slumped back into bad habits despite the fact that they are using the same system, are guided by the same principles and mostly have the same players, if only because United failed to invest in any department other than the midfield.
So where has that energy and drive gone? Why are United’s players now getting so easily outmuscled in key areas, losing one-on-ones and jogging around the pitch as they donate swathes of space to their opponents?
Deciding whether or not to blame Carrick if things can’t be turned around – and eventually whether or not to sack him – doesn’t just require the board to work that out, but also to decide whether the blame lies with him for failing to get his side lined up and suitably geed up, or with the recruitment team for signing the wrong players for him (or indeed any other coach) to gee up in the first place.
Because firing coaches and hiring new ones is cheaper than replacing a whole squad, boards tend to take the view that it’s the coach’s fault. In this case, however, Carrick would be the latest in an increasingly long line of coaches who have failed at Old Trafford – ranging from up-and-comers with bright new ideas to experience old warhorses, from those who manage with an arm around the shoulder to fierce disciplinarians. If all of them have failed and the squad remains lacklustre and listless 13 years after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, one must start to wonder whether it’s the workmen or the tools.
Before Carrick took the Manchester United job full-time, a valid concern about his candidacy was that he had proven to be a somewhat limited tactician at Middlesbrough, and had often struggled to come up with a Plan B when things weren’t working – and on the rare occasions that United ran into trouble during his interim stint, he seldom righted things until the following week.
Now Carrick has to get a ship off the rocks after it’s been beached for a few weeks in a row. A win at Fulham might help to get things moving, and the international break could offer the reset his team needs, but if things continue on their rather bleak trajectory for much longer, however, then a point will be reached at which Carrick will inevitably take the blame for failing to get a tune out of his squad. Then it will be next man up, and likely more evidence that it’s the ship that’s the problem and not necessarily the captain.