Manchester United secured a 1-1 draw with Leeds United at Elland Road.
Match
The away side took the lead and silenced the home crowd when a neat move was finished off by Bryan Mbeumo, who scored his fourth goal of the season.
Nonetheless, United have had an issue keeping clean sheets all season, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin muscled his way into the box in the second half to give the home side a share of the points.
The Red Devils have now drawn four, won one, and lost two of their Premier League matches this season, and sit in 13th place in the league.
Gary Neville’s view
Commenting on the result while working for Sky Sports, the former United captain stated, “there’s a depressed standard and a low expectation right now. But it’ll feel like a stepping stone for Michael Carrick, and it’ll feel like the first step on the ladder in the Premier League.”
Continuing to explain the shoots of positivity that he saw, he asserted, “they may take some confidence from that, and there might be a blueprint there. Maybe we have to bring Matheus Cunha, Marcus Rashford and others off the bench, and we might just have to have a go at being more solid.”
Neville then laid out what he now viewed as a successful season for Carrick’s side.
He explained, “I would say fourth would be a birdie, fifth would be par, and sixth would be a bogey. But they can’t finish outside the top five, because then you’re missing out on Champions League and it becomes a vicious circle.”
Neville described, “then you can’t get those players because they want to play in the Champions League and you can’t get the money from it and you’ve lost the £60m-£70m and you’re in the Europa League on Thursday nights. Fifth is a must for Michael Carrick to continue to grow and Manchester United continue to grow with investment.”
Whilst unhappy with the paltry total of seven points from seven games, Neville suggested it is one thing being 13th now, but if Carrick is still there in January, he will have a major problem on his hands.
He added, “it has to change in the next few weeks: Bournemouth is really important and Chelsea away. And how he manages the games in between that. You’ve got to say fifth. You know that anything less than fifth is going to be a disappointment and a dropping standard from the start of the season where everybody expected them to finish.”
Neville also explained that Liverpool, Aston Villa and Brighton’s improved form has also made this target more challenging for Carrick’s side.
Man United results
2026/2027
Featured image by Michael Steele via Getty Images
