Michael Carrick’s side needed a stoppage time leveller just to draw at Craven Cottage, and the numbers behind that 1-1 result have done more damage to Manchester United’s season than the scoreline itself.
Five games into the Premier League campaign, United sit 12th with five points from a win, two draws and two defeats. That matches their joint worst start to a top flight season in 12 years, level with the five points they had after five games under Louis van Gaal back in 2014-15. They are already ten points behind leaders Manchester City, who remain unbeaten at the top of the table.
The reaction to Saturday’s draw at Fulham has been about more than just another dropped two points. Running data from the match showed United walking out of possession, being outpaced by their hosts, and covering less ground than almost every side in the league that weekend. Gary Neville did not hold back on Sky Sports, describing large parts of the performance as a “genuine disgrace.” Carrick, for his part, pushed back hard on the idea that his team had been passive.
Cunha rescues a point Carrick felt they deserved more from
Fulham went ahead in unfortunate fashion. Calvin Bassey’s shot was parried by Senne Lammens in the 63rd minute, and the rebound cannoned in off Lisandro Martinez for an own goal that put the hosts in front. United had already gone close twice before that, Bruno Fernandes striking the post from a Matheus Cunha cutback in the 25th minute, then Cunha himself seeing a deflected effort loop up and off the far post six minutes later.
With time running out, Cunha finally got his reward. His shot took a wicked deflection off David Affengruber and beat Bernd Leno in the 89th minute to snatch a point. There was late drama at the other end too, Fulham appealing for a penalty after Bassey’s arm made contact with the ball, though referee and VAR agreed his arms were tucked in and waved the claim away.
Carrick was adamant afterwards that his side had been unfortunate rather than second best. “I thought we should’ve won the game, we created enough to win the game,” he said, pointing to United hitting the woodwork twice and praising Leno as the game’s outstanding performer. “The way we finished the game is the positive we take from it,” he added, framing the late goal as evidence of character rather than a lucky escape. He was more reflective on the bigger picture, saying United “can take a lot from today and we need to learn a lot from the first chapter of the season.”
The numbers behind Neville’s fury
Whatever Carrick’s view of the chances created, the underlying data painted an uncomfortable picture of a team lacking energy. United were joint bottom of the league for high speed runs in the match, managing just 1,691, the same number as a Manchester City side that had played the entire second half of their game a man down. United spent 52.98% of their time out of possession simply walking, their highest such figure of the season and well above their own season average of 51.13%, which already ranked 17th out of the 20 Premier League clubs. They covered 110.2km at Craven Cottage, the second lowest distance of any team that weekend and 6.5km less than Fulham managed on their own ground. Aside from City’s derby win over them, United have now been outrun by every side they have faced this season.
Neville’s criticism on Sky Sports went well beyond a single stat. “In those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man Utd, and generally for the first 60 minutes, were a genuine disgrace,” he said, adding that he had “never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that.” He described the side as showing “no alertness, no aliveness, no on your toes,” and picked out individual issues too, suggesting Bryan Mbeumo and Marcus Rashford stayed too high and wide, that Youri Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo looked “too one paced” in midfield, and that Fernandes and Cunha drifted around without a clear enough role. He urged Carrick to stop publicly defending underperforming players and instead force a genuine reset in how the team approaches games.
Cunha, whose late goal had just saved a point, essentially agreed with the diagnosis rather than the manager. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Brazilian was blunt. “It is hard. They put in more energy than us, we cannot accept this. We need to do our best. We need to improve in every single position,” he said, before adding that a draw was not what the shirt demands. “It’s only one point but with this shirt you never play for one point.”
A season built on missed chances rather than a lack of them
The frustrating part for Carrick is that his side are not short of attacking output. United have had 113 shots in the Premier League this season, more than any other club, and rank third for Expected Goals with 10.24. The problem has not been creating opportunities so much as converting them and controlling matches once ahead or level, which is exactly where the running and possession numbers become relevant.
The season so far has swung wildly. An opening 0-2 defeat away at newly promoted Hull City was followed by a comfortable 5-2 win at home to Ipswich Town, Fernandes scoring twice either side of an own goal and a Mbeumo strike. A 2-2 draw at Everton, in which Mbeumo and Rasmus Hojlund’s replacement Benjamin Sesko both scored, preceded a narrow 0-1 home defeat to Manchester City in the derby. Fulham has now added a third result United will view as points dropped rather than points won.
Cunha pointed to United’s third place finish last season despite a difficult opening spell as reason for calmer heads, and there is a reasonable case that a team creating this many chances is not as far away as the table suggests. Carrick’s challenge now is turning that underlying quality into results before patience with the process runs any thinner, starting with finding an intensity level his own senior players are openly questioning.
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