The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, and in some ways the photos of Michael Carrick on the pitch in Como may tell you more than a match report ever could.
United have had many a night to forget in recent seasons, but a 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League goes down as one of the worst in living memory.
In fact the Italian minnows, taking part in Europe’s premier competition for the first time, put United to the sword in a second-half performance that could well cost Carrick his job.
The fact that Cesc Fabregas – a man who has been touted as Carrick’s successor – delivered this chastening defeat is all the more intriguing.
United conceded within 47 seconds in a dispiriting defeat to Atletico Madrid last week and they just about managed better on the shores of Lake Como, although barely...
Man of the match Nico Paz curled in a superb effort within two minutes to put the hosts ahead. In hindsight it set the tone for the evening, though even the most pessimistic United player could not have imagined the embarrassment they were about to endure.
Carrick’s side managed to settle despite conceding so early last week, but they were all over the place during a wet and windy start in Como, with the hosts threatening twice more within the opening 15 minutes before Harry Maguire flashed a header wide.
That half-chance was to be United’s best opening, at least until after the game had completely got away from them. Como continued to have the best chances, with Tasos Douvikas forcing Senne Lammens into a save before blasting over from inside the area a few minutes later.
Shouts of ‘attack, attack, attack’ in the 34th minute summed up the United display, though a flash of the stats board in the 37th minute showed Como had completed 307 passes to United’s 172, with three shots on target to zero and 62 per cent possession. This was more than just an off-day.
Possession may not be nine-tenths of the law in football anymore, but this was still an embarrassing showing from the visiting side. United were outplayed by Como in every department in the first half and they could barely get near them in midfield at times; when they did get the ball, they quickly looked out of ideas in possession too. This was not possession that was deliberately ceded, but rather possession that could not be won in the first place.
Carrick clearly identified something was wrong, though he waited until half-time to make his two changes. It did not have the desired effect.
Carlos Baleba and Amad Diallo were brought on at the break to try and lift United but the visitors instead found themselves two goals behind within five minutes of the second half starting, with the electric Paz slipping a through ball into the path of Douvikas to leave the Greek striker with a simple finish lifted past Lammens.
It was no less than Como deserved but the game still did not feel like it had completely escaped the visitors, even if they had put in an abject performance leading up to it. In fact, United’s first real spell of pressure came around the 55-minute mark.
However, even that dissipated almost as soon as it began. Instead of clawing one back the visitors found themselves three down in the blink of an eye, with Paz nicking the ball off Baleba before driving into the area and steering a finish into the far corner.
The third goal summed up the farcical nature of United’s performance, in what was one of their worst displays on the European stage, but there is always time for more embarrassment with this side. Indeed, it came with just under 15 minutes left, with Como centre-back Jacobo Ramon powering in a header when unmarked in the box to give Como a fourth. Joshua Zirkzee scored a late consolation for United, but even that just felt slightly embarrassing.
The away end emptied, and as the support from the fans disappeared, you began to think that maybe the hierarchy’s support for Carrick may have too.
As Lisandro Martinez noted in explosive fashion last week, Carrick has not had the required level of support from the club’s hierarchy. That was clear for all to see on a United bench that contained seven youth team players, with the likes of Martinez, Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu now injured, Leny Yoro suspended and Ayden Heaven out with illness.
Everybody knew Martinez was right when he made the comments, though few would have thought it would been illustrated in such emphatic fashion just over a week later.
However, there comes a point where the board can’t be blamed for all of the failures on the pitch. The fact remains that Carrick produced some of the leading form in the league with a nearly identical set of players last season, and yet this term he has only managed to produce a series of desperately poor performances, with no sign of an upturn in form on the horizon.
It is true that there is little jeopardy for many teams in this new Champions League format, though that does not extend to a United side without a win in seven games. In many ways this was a must-win game for Carrick’s side, especially considering that they’ll have to face Bayern Munich, an in-form Roma side and Sporting away from home among their remaining five league phase games.
And yet, rather than winning and potentially stopping the rot for now, they put in one of the worst United performances in living memory.
One can complain about support in the form of summer signings, but this was a performance that was created on the training field, not in the boardroom, and the man in the dugout will have to answer for that eventually.