Manchester United fans were left with a familiar sinking feeling as they left Old Trafford after the Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton. United surged into a two-goal lead within 10 minutes, but pitifully surrendered their advantage in the second half to crash out of the competition at the first hurdle for a successive season.
Although losing to Brighton was not as bad as the Grimsby Town debacle, it prompted fans to seriously question Michael Carrick for the first time, and the team's lacklustre performance in a 1-1 draw with Fulham before the international break offered little reassurance.
Ince warns over Carrick appointment
Carrick retains the backing of the majority of the fanbase, but United hero Paul Ince believes that his appointment risked repeating the history of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's stint as manager.
"When they had a chance to get Mauricio Pochettino in, they didn't," Ince said. "They ended up taking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and giving him a contract, and we saw what happened there."
"I hope we're not falling down the same path here with Carrick coming in last year, after losing his job at Middlesbrough, and getting a permanent contract, with the team not performing and being very up and down.
"I like Carrick. I think he's great. The way he speaks to the press, he's always calm, he explains things. But that's not the point. The point is that United had an opportunity to bring in someone, a big, big manager, with Champions League football this year, and make a statement."
"They've gone with Carrick, and good luck to them, because obviously I want Carrick to succeed, because if he succeeds, United succeed, but if you look at their team, they've not really changed a lot."
Defensive and attacking concerns
Ince spoke to the Manchester Evening News on behalf of Sky Bet, and the former United midfielder, who won seven major trophies during his time at the club, including two Premier League titles, questioned Carrick's defensive options.
He said: "They've still got the same players, especially in the back four: Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez. They're playing the same players who have been there for two or three years."
Ince feels the top of the pitch is also a problem. United spent £155m in the summer, focusing on overhauling the midfield, but the club did not sign a back-up striker. "Benjamin Sesko can't get a game, so they haven't really got a centre-forward," he said.
"They've tried to put Bryan Mbeumo there, Matheus Cunha there, and they're not playing in their right positions. Cunha played for Wolves on the left, and Mbeumo was playing for Brentford on the right. You've got to put Marcus Rashford up top."
"So, it's a bit of mix and match, because they haven't got an out-and-out centre-forward who scores goals. Sesko, last year, he came off the bench and scored some important goals, but they seem reluctant to give him a chance.
"Rashford's back and wants to play on the left. There's only Cunha who can play up top. They need a centre-forward who's going to score 20 to 30 goals a season. That should have been one of their priorities."
Midfield spending questioned
Ince continued: "They've tried to change the midfield. I didn't understand why they spent £50million on Andrey Santos from Chelsea. There was no need to do that. Yes, he's a young player, but you've got Kobbie Mainoo there.
"Mainoo's around the same age, the same type of player. Mainoo's the one who's got to be thrust into United's team, game in, game out, so he can progress, grow and develop. They didn't need to go and spend that money, they could have spent it on something else.
"Youri Tielemans I like, but then again, I look at that United midfield and I think, where are the legs? That's what concerns me. Tielemans is a bit like Bruno Fernandes. So I just think £50m on Santos was probably not the greatest bit of business.
"I could be completely wrong, but for me, Mainoo is the one. He's the one who's got to show this season that he belongs at Manchester United, so it will be interesting to see how that midfield goes.
"As a fan and as an ex-player, it's the inconsistency of United that we've seen time and time again. One minute you think, 'Oh, this is it, here we go,' and then they get beaten. That's something Carrick has got to really look at."
Title race and stability
Carrick steered United to a third-place finish in the Premier League last season and wanted to improve in this campaign, but United have taken just five points from their five games so far.
"I feel they're out of the Premier League title race already," said Ince. "I hope they can win the Premier League, I honestly do, but with the teams that are up there, they're so many points behind.
"But they're in the Champions League, and that's something we've always said: they should be in the Champions League, they should be fighting for titles, they should be fighting for trophies. That's what the club was built on. They will be tested over the coming months.
"I must say the fans have been brilliant. The fans have always stuck by United, whether it's up and down, they've always stuck by them. The fans are amazing. But we know that if you're not competing for trophies and playing well, the fans can get impatient.
"And we've seen, I don't know, ten or 12 managers since Sir Alex Ferguson won the last title in 2012/13. That's not right for United. You've got to have some stability. We've seen it with Mikel Arteta, we saw it with Arsène Wenger and people like that, and back in the day with Ferguson.
"You've got to have some stability, you can't keep chopping and changing managers. But if you get the wrong ones, you get the bloody wrong ones. I hope this (Carrick) is going to be the right one."
Baleba backed to make difference
United are set to clash with Tottenham on Saturday, their first game back after the international break, and Carlos Baleba could be handed his debut after being named on the bench against Fulham.
Ince, one of the finest midfielders of his generation, has backed Baleba to make the difference in the centre of the pitch. "Listen, when you talk about Casemiro, he only played well in the back end of last season," he said.
"The year before that, people were saying, 'Get him out, he's gone.' So, putting your hopes on someone like Baleba is a tough, tough call, but I watched him a lot at Brighton and I like him. I still think he's a little bit raw in some areas, I honestly do, but I like him. He's got legs, he's aggressive, he can get up and down the park. But are we just going back to what we started the conversation with? Have we got too many players who want to go forward? Is he going to be the one who sits? I don't know.
"As I say, they've got a lot of games to play, and they're all going to get games, but I do like him. He's an exciting player."
