Michael Carrick has attempted to brush off negativity around Manchester United's start to the season, insisting it is "not that bad" after two points slipped away at Everton on Sunday.
The result means United, after just three games, are already five points behind early leaders Manchester City and champions Arsenal, who both have nine points. United recovered from an opening-weekend loss at Hull, where they were out-run and out-fought by the newly promoted side, a result that quashed momentum built from last season and a summer in which three new midfielders were signed.
The win over Ipswich at Old Trafford was expected despite falling behind early on, and owed much to Bruno Fernandes's brilliance. The outlook after three games might have been different had Ainsley Maitland-Niles not scored a long-range screamer to rescue Everton a point.
Where United stand after three games
The result leaves United 11th, with a second successive year in the Champions League spots seen as the target for the season. Carrick's claim that "it's not that bad, you know" invites scrutiny. The attack is not that bad, given the money invested in it last summer. The midfield is not that bad but equally not great: Carlos Baleba is not yet fit, while Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos are still finding their feet.
The defence, however, is that bad. United are conceding two goals a game, which makes picking up wins especially difficult. That is to be expected given the club have not made a major backline signing in two years. All of that leaves United with four points from nine, and plenty of question marks. Four points from nine for a side with title aspirations would be bad, as would dropping points at a team who finished sixth in the Championship last season.
Slow starts nothing new for United
It has been nine years since United won their first three games of a season, that coming under Jose Mourinho. In four of the last six seasons, United have begun with four points or less. Starting fast has not been part of the MO at Old Trafford.
Even under Sir Alex Ferguson, United were not always quick out of the blocks, but could be relied on to come good. Now they cannot guarantee that, and the bar has been raised by rivals. Last season they had four points by this stage after losing to Arsenal, drawing at Fulham, and beating Burnley thanks to a stoppage-time Fernandes penalty. In 2024/25 they had just three points after losing successive games to Brighton and Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Humbling defeats serving as reality checks are nothing new. Erik ten Hag began his tenure in 2022 by losing to Brighton and being hammered at Brentford a week later. In 2020, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw United lose their opening home game to Crystal Palace before a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham, who had four goals by half-time. The best recovery United have mustered from a slow start came in 2021, when they had three points from their opening three games but finished second. Conversely, slow starts over the past decade meant Mourinho, Solskjaer and Ten Hag were all gone by Christmas.
Carrick is in zero danger and expectations at Old Trafford are not what they were. Aspects of United's play certainly are not that bad, others probably are that bad, so it remains to be seen come May where that leaves them.
