Carrick's 'not that bad' remark assessed as Man Utd start under the spotlight

After seeing two points slip away at Everton Michael Carrick was keen to remind onlookers that Manchester United's start to the season is "not that bad".

It does mean, after just three games, that the Red Devils are already five points off the pace as neighbours Manchester City and champions Arsenal record nine points to begin the campaign.

United have recovered from the shock loss at Hull on the opening weekend, where Carrick saw his side out run and out fought by the newly promoted outfit. It quashed any momentum that had been built from last season and across the summer, where three new midfielders were signed.

The win over Ipswich at Old Trafford was expected, despite falling behind early on, and owed to some Bruno Fernandes brilliance. The outlook after three games may well have been different had Ainsley Maitland-Niles not scored a screamer from distance to rescue Everton a point, but that is football.

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The result leaves United sitting in 11th. Ultimately a second successive year in the Champions League spots would be seen as the target for this season.

So when Carrick says "It's not that bad, you know" - is he right? Well the attack certainly isn't that bad, but you'd expect as much given the money ploughed into it last summer. The midfielder isn't that bad but equally isn't great. Carlos Baleba isn't yet fit and Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos are still finding their feet.

The defence meanwhile is that bad. United concede two goals a game at the moment, which makes it especially difficult to pick up wins. But, then again, it is to be expected given the club haven't made a major backline signing in two years.

Add all that together and it leaves United with four points and plenty of question marks over what they're capable of. Four points from nine for a side with title aspirations would be bad, as would dropping the ball at a team who finished sixth in the Championship last season.

But when you consider its been nine years since United won three from three to begin the season, that coming under Jose Mourinho, you begin to see what the modern day United have become.

In fact, in four of the last six seasons, the Red Devils have begun with four points or less. Starting fast has not been part of the MO at Old Trafford.

It must be said, even in the heydays of Sir Alex Ferguson, United weren't always quick out of the blocks, but could always be relied on to come good. Nowadays they cannot guarantee that and the bar has also been raised by their rivals.

Last season they had four points by this stage after losing to Arsenal before drawing at Fulham and beating Burnley, although that win only came about thanks to a Fernandes penalty in stoppage time. In 2024/25 United had just three points after losing successive games to Brighton, and then Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Humbling defeats serving as reality checks is nothing new for those associated with United. When Erik ten Hag began his tenure in 2022 he started by losing to Brighton and getting hammered at Brentford a week later.

In 2020 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw United lose their opening at home to Crystal Palace before they backed that up with a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham, who found themselves with four goals by half-time, at Old Trafford.

Of all the United recovery missions the best they've mustered is second, that came in 2021 when they had three points from their opening three games. Conversely slow starts over the past decade have meant that Mourinho, Solskjaer and Ten Hag were all gone by Christmas.

Carrick is in zero danger and the expectations at Old Trafford are not what they were. Aspects of United's play certainly aren't that bad, others probably are that bad, so we'll have to see come May where that leaves them.

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