Survival may already be beyond Michael Carrick. A win against Bournemouth tomorrow is unlikely on the evidence before us. Manchester United are a team in distress, shorn of ideas and direction, led by a coach manifestly out of his depth.
Whoever gets the nod to replace Carrick must come with scalpel primed. So many in the squad have fallen below the level expected at one of the world’s great clubs.
Shredded is the notion that Ineos would introduce a new methodology and way of working. There is no obvious plan nor established style of play. The top-to-bottom reforms promised by Sir Jim Ratcliffe on his arrival in 2023 have delivered more of the mediocrity and incoherence that has seen United drift further from the centre of influence.
The nuclear flares fired by Lisandro Martinez and Bruno Fernandes in recent days were less insurrection, more cries for help. Let that start an honest appraisal of those wearing the shirt.
I’ll begin with a list of seven deadly sinners, players who act as a drag on performance and should be moved on at the earliest opportunity.
Bruno Fernandes
The skipper has had better weeks. Hooked in Como, burgled in Cheshire, mired in controversy.
Some would have Fernandes stripped of the captaincy for his public rejection of Carrick and his tactics after the Champions League defeat in Italy. Given the club’s longest winless run since 2015 – seven and counting – he is perhaps justified in speaking out.
What is indefensible is his form. Fernandes lasted 66 minutes in Como. Apart from an hour against Ipswich Town in the second game of the season, he has been a negative, fractious presence and arguably the greatest contributor to the alarming decline.
In the last year of his contract, the case for not extending is no longer controversial.
Harry Maguire
Increasingly slow and ponderous. The modern centre-back has pace, is decisive and looks to bring the ball out with authority. Maguire was never the quickest but always had good feet and was positionally sound, which got him out of trouble. No longer.
He slows everything down, doesn’t initiate from the back, seeks the easy option with a square pass – or back for keeper Senne Lammens to lump it long.
Mason Mount
In four seasons, Mount played 129 top-flight games for Chelsea, scoring 27 goals in midfield. This is his fourth season at United, all plagued by injury. His 56 appearances amount to £1m a match. He has five goals and no assists. At 27 he should be at his peak. Goodness knows United’s midfield could use the legs. The problem is, his don’t work.
Joshua Zirkzee
A cage baller who never left. Zirkzee plays entirely on instinct, which works in small spaces to wriggle out of contact and get a shot away. But he doesn’t see or intuit the space around him, overcomplicates possession and is often in the wrong place.
Patrick Dorgu
A player with no fixed abode, neither winger nor full-back. The odd spectacular goal is not enough to save a player who struggles to make any part of the pitch his own. His lack of game intelligence feeds a lack of confidence
Diogo Dalot
United’s full-back for the next ten years, said Jose Mourinho in 2018. We are eight years in, and still waiting for Dalot to string two good halves together. He has a good engine, a decent right foot and offers versatility but it’s his decision-making that fails him.
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Marcus Rashford
Here by default. If he’s not good enough for Barcelona and Aston Villa, what is he doing at United? He wouldn’t be there had he not priced himself out of the market. Rashford has always been a sensitive soul. Life has a way of complicating things in any workplace, let alone one scrutinised by billions.
His selection under Carrick knocked Matheus Cunha out of his stride, shutting down United’s left side.