06 Sep 2026 16:30:59
Having played Hull Ipswich and Everton we sit 11th, conceding an average 2 goals a game. Now already 5 points behind City making the derby rather important even at this very early time of the season.


Yes, very early. How is the confidence level of finishing top 5 under Carrick?
I think we will have to struggle to get 5th but it won’t be a surprise to some of us.

1.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 16:37:51
Defence is shaky, attack creates hardly any clear-cut chances, and our expensive new midfield can't control games, subs are poor, in-game management poor.
Shaping up to be a loooong season.

2.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 16:57:36
Continue to concede 2 goals a game, and we aren't winning many. Each time we score, we seem to sit back and invite pressure, with an inevitable result. We are architects of our own demise.

3.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 16:59:12
I disagree, Cantona. Our midfield has had a lot of control in the last two games. But I agree that game management has been shocking. Our team wasn't prepared well for Hull, and making a defensive substitution late on today was idiotic. We have a good enough squad, but this nonsense of trying to hold onto single goal leads with the defence we have will kill us.
Really eager for the return of De Ligt.

Martinez today distributed the ball really sharply, but Maguire was incredibly slow in releasing the ball on the other side. It's destroying our tempo as teams are covering just one side.

We have the ingredients to have a good season, but today irritated me greatly as we'd have won with reasonable management. An entirely avoidable dropping of points.

4.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 17:10:12
I personally said that mid table would be a good result this season. We haven't even started the two games a week period yet...

5.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 17:28:58
Midtable would be a good result? On what planet? This squad isn't good enough to challenge for a title, but it should be finishing 3-6.

6.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 17:30:50
Mid table looks accurate. Baleba needs to be 1 hell of a player if we are pinning our hopes of improvement on him.

Be interesting to see what calibre of defenders we can attract/afford if we don't qualify for Europe.

Considering most top players want Europe, and our finances are seemingly so bad we can't afford them this season. Not getting Europe will further cripple our spending power.

Long way to go, of course, but early signs are worrying.

7.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 17:36:11
Ah lads, ease off the negativity. Had we seen it out a minute longer we'd have been 4th or 5th. I am as irritated by this result as I've been in a while, but this ambulance chasing way of viewing everything is a real downer. Keep it a bit level.

8.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 18:07:55
"We haven't started the season that bad, to be honest."

That's his quote. Being level is fine, but this isn't Middlesbrough. I expect the United manager to say that it must improve, and, let's be honest, without being disrespectful, the three teams should not have resulted in only 4 points.

9.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 19:06:53
I don't mean I'd be happy with mid table, and I agree, the squad should be delivering better. But 3 games and 4 points... Extrapolate that to the end of the season, and we would finish the season with 50 points. That would have been good enough for 12th place last season...

So, on this very real planet, mid table is a real possibility.



I've been negative for more than just this season. We got very lucky in a number of games during Carrick's tenure last season. Carrick continually shows the inability to:

1. Prepare a team to approach a game in any other way than plan A, which is the same every game.
2. Deliver solid in game management, or demonstrate any plan B.

10.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 19:38:36
Groan. This page is getting to be almost at Everton fans' level of moaning.

11.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 20:34:58
Eric,
Everton standard of points is something to moan about.

12.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 21:15:27
Maguire is ruining the development of Yoro, who is being shipped out to play rb. ?

Yoro, whilst de Ligt is stealing a living in the medical room, should be starting alongside Martinez.

We have no pace at the back and can’t play a high line.

13.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 21:42:20
Shaw and Dalot are as fast as any fullbacks, with Shaw regularly hitting 34kph, which is amongst the fastest fullbacks. Our left side, with Shaw and Martinez, played very well today.

14.) 06 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 22:05:03
Let's forget about Shaw's positioning for Everton's first goal.

And Dalot's lack of positioning every game.

He was loaned to AC Milan years ago, who didn't want him on a permanent deal.

Yet here he is, 10 years later, still starting.

If anyone thinks Dalot and Shaw are players that don't need replacing, then standards have dropped much lower than I thought.

15.) 07 Sep 2026
06 Sep 2026 23:54:21
Nobody has said that, Bolger.

16.) 07 Sep 2026
07 Sep 2026 04:11:37
Tend to agree with that, Redman. No need to panic after 3 games, but I would prefer our young and inexperienced manager to be saying that we have not met the required standard. Pointing out the silver linings around our storm cloud is not the way to engage the fans.

He clearly didn't get what he needed in the summer. The players are undercooked, some had an extended break from the WC.

But one message he can send is that this is not okay. He is not happy. The team will stick together, but they have to be better. The fans do not need gaslighting.

We need Carrick to be the manager, not the interim manager, friend to everybody. He needs to remember that he has to be in charge, and the performance of his team is a representation of him on the pitch.

17.) 07 Sep 2026
07 Sep 2026 07:11:12
What Carrick says to his Swiss and what he says to the press/public are very different things. He's managing it how he sees fit. Our fan base would pick apart any performance. If we'd have won 2-1, it would be the same.

18.) 07 Sep 2026
07 Sep 2026 08:22:56
Dodgy

Agree. Carrick being friendly, like Ole was, will not get us anywhere again.

It's a shocking quote for a United manager. I cannot imagine SAF saying that or any of the top managers. Ok at Boro, but not here.