Michael Carrick has rejected Gary Neville’s withering assessment of Manchester United’s performance in their 1-1 draw at Fulham, but the result and the wider context around the club continue to demand improvement. Neville’s criticism came after Lisandro Martínez’s own goal put Fulham ahead just over an hour into what had been a laboured United display at Craven Cottage.
Neville, the former United captain, did not hold back. He said he had watched Manchester United since the age of five and that the 15 minutes he had just seen were the worst he had ever witnessed. He called the performance ‘absolutely pathetic’, said he had never seen such a lack of effort, and asked what Carrick must be thinking. For context, Neville was part of the United side beaten 3-1 by Fulham at Old Trafford in October 2003, while more recent low points include a 7-0 defeat at Liverpool and 6-1 home losses to both Tottenham and Manchester City. His words followed a poor quarter of an hour from the start of the second half to Martínez’s moment of ill fortune.
United did salvage a 1-1 draw when Matheus Cunha’s deflected strike found the net in the 89th minute, denying Fulham a first league win of the season. Yet the point was ‘something small’ considering Fulham started the game at the foot of the Premier League and have now swapped places with Tottenham. Five points from five games leaves United 12th, already 10 points behind pacesetters Manchester City. It has been a punishing week: United lost the Manchester derby to a City side reduced to 10 men midway through the first half, then were beaten at home by Brighton for the first time in more than 50 years after giving away a two-goal lead.
The fitness debate has also resurfaced. Questions were first raised during pre-season when midfielder Youri Tielemans revealed that United were not prioritising running. Cunha did not exactly agree with Neville in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, but his comments will have fuelled more debate. ‘At the beginning of the second half they put in more energy than us,’ said the Brazilian. ‘We cannot accept this.’ Carrick took a different view, using the way his side tried to pressure the home team in the latter stages, leading to Cunha’s equaliser, as evidence that his squad is fit enough. ‘The way we finished the game, actually, it didn’t look like that. We finished the game really strong actually, and kept pushing. I don’t think that’s an issue, no,’ he said.
United must also shut out the ‘noise’. Cunha mentioned the noise around United when he spoke to BBC Match of the Day, and Neville is a significant part of it, either directly or through his growing media empire. Carrick has previously said he can shut it out, but it cannot be quite so easy when United fans, who usually back their team through disappointment, followed up chants on Wednesday in disgust at the Brighton debacle by booing Carrick’s decision to take off popular England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo 11 minutes from time. ‘There’s always going to be certain reactions when you’re making changes,’ Carrick said. ‘I’ve spoken to Kobbie after the game and he’s absolutely fine. I understand at times when we are chasing the game, everyone’s a little bit emotional. The supporters are, as well they should be, desperate for us to do the right thing. But I don’t take any negatives or offence to it. I think we’ve just got to try and keep doing the right things to get back into the game. The supporters were unbelievable today, I have to say, all the way through, and stuck with the boys and supported them. At least we’ve given them something small at the end to take from it, and I’m sure there’s more to come.’
On the team front, United’s £70m summer signing Carlos Baleba is still to make his debut, and long-term injury victim Matthijs de Ligt was not involved at all, even though both were part of the squad that travelled south on Saturday. Striker Benjamin Sesko also missed the game after suffering a recurrence of the shin problem against Brighton that troubled him for an extended period last season before he submitted to a recovery programme that ruled him out for more than three months. Carrick says ‘at this point’ the extent of the damage is unknown.
Off the pitch, there are further sources of unease. Ticketing issues instigated by the club’s touting crackdown have annoyed many in the fanbase. On Wednesday, United will release their full-year financial results to 30 June, around which the full extent of their current debt will be revealed. There is also a general debate about the wisdom of a new stadium, which is set to cost in excess of £2bn, with planning permission potentially submitted with the main Old Trafford masterplan, earmarked for late 2027 or early 2028. After leading United back to the Champions League so unexpectedly last season, and having guided them to third place, Carrick is presiding over a club whose supporters feel deflated, even if he does not recognise that.
‘It’s still a big season ahead,’ Carrick said. ‘It’s a long season and you’re going to have spells through a season. That’s part of the journey. It’s not a sprint, it’s a long effort. I’m not playing it down, you know. We wanted more points, so I’m not saying everything’s great. I understand the frustration. We wanted to be better and we wanted to do other things. But deflation is certainly not what we have within the club and within the group. The players didn’t have that on the pitch today and that’s what will carry us through the season without a doubt.’