Man Utd, 10-man Spurs draw but Michael Carrick loses El Sackico
Gary Neville described Manchester United as “absolutely pathetic” at Fulham – the worst he’s seen since he was five years old. Neville only had to wait until the next game to witness arguably worse.
Which is wretched timing for Michael Carrick, who so badly needed a victory, or just something to hold up as a win, in El Sackico against bottom-of-the-league, winless, bereft Tottenham Hotspur.
All Carrick has to show is a performance so ponderous – more dispiriting than the last one – that even he must be questioning how long he’s got left in charge at Old Trafford.
Of course, Carrick is not entirely responsible for the mess United once again find themselves in. But he looks increasingly incapable of finding answers to deep-rooted problems.
The abject performance United turned in during their first half hour after a three-week break was so prosaic and pedestrian that it prompted boos from the home supporters with barely a quarter of the game gone.
Tottenham should have had the game won inside that period. Spurs being Spurs, they drove Roberto De Zerbi to despair on the touchline as chances and openings were repeatedly passed up.
There was a lot to appreciate, though, before the maddening final touches. Tottenham were sharper, in and out of possession, and better set-up to swamp United in every department.
That can be pinned on Carrick. It has been clear all season so far that Youri Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo do not complement one another.
The midfield pair were consistently overrun by a Spurs side mirroring United’s shape on paper but with the nous to outnumber the Red Devils in the middle, with Conor Gallagher dropping in while Bruno Fernandes hung out, waiting for the ball to find him through good fortune more than proper planning.
Not so much losing the midfield battle, more being annihilated in it was the root of United problems. But that doesn’t excuse all of what happened around the periphery.
United should have been behind after three minutes when Senne Lammens played a pass into midfield that was never on. Dominic Solanke, though, was the first Spurs star who failed to finish.
It was one of a few shaky moments in possession for Lammens, most of which came from team-mates in front of him passing the buck. So often when the Belgian keeper gets his head up there is no movement – just individually, let alone in sequences – to create space to receive.
Carrick is encouraging United to build from the very back but without the patterns or pace to do it. Is there is an easier side to bait into a turnover in their own half? Almost certainly not.
It leads to Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez walking, creeping with the ball with those ahead too static to receive. Matheus Cunha reacted with some dissent to the early jeers from the home support but, if anything, they showed remarkable restraint before turning on their own half-paced players.
To say United gained something of a foothold either side of half-time is too generous – they were slightly less sh*t.
They improved again when Carlos Baleba replaced Tielemans. Which is encouraging for Carrick, but damning too since the change ought to have come at least 15 minutes earlier.
Is there a player carrying more expectation right now than Baleba? The new signing made a tangible difference with his mobility in midfield and appetite for a tackle, things United have been lacking for what feels like longer than the 51 years on the banner gleefully unfurled on the Stretford End, mocking Manchester City’s problems which at least serve to distract from their own.
When United went in front, it was somehow surprising yet inevitable. No one would have banked on United breaking Spurs’ stubborn resolve, but neither would anyone bet on this Spurs to maintain it.
Jan Paul van Hecke allowed Bryan Mbeumo to receive, turn and finish, but the celebrations – the players’ and Carrick’s – were sheepish enough to illustrate that United recognised they didn’t merit a lead.
Even when Spurs went down to 10 men, there was no confidence inside Old Trafford that United would complete their smash and grab. For the second home league game in succession, they failed to navigate the challenge of playing a man up, the fear of the inevitable evident in Martinez dropping too deep in the 92nd minute and focusing more on the man than the ball. He played neither, allowing Solanke to head in a deserved leveller.
Even then, with another eight minutes or so to play, United could not rouse themselves to capitalise on their man advantage. If anything, they wilted more, with Spurs likeliest to find a winner to come from a goal down to triumph for the first time in 49 games.
De Zerbi might still be searching for his first win of the season but a draw certainly does more for the Spurs boss than Carrick.
It has been suggested that the first of eight games to save his job carried the least threat. But a performance so turgid and fearful has certainly pushed the manager closer to the brink a week before the most perilous of them all.
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