Manchester United are back in the Champions League next season but on the evidence of their draw at Sunderland they don’t have the squad to challenge on two fronts.
If this was a taster of what could have happened to Manchester United had Michael Carrick not been able to pick a pretty settled team for the past four months, then the head coach will be counting his blessings tonight.
Carrick found a winning formula early on in his interim role and rarely had to change the ingredients too much, but a couple of injuries and a desire to freshen things up saw him change almost half the team at Sunderland. The response was a performance in keeping with the weather.
We’re at the time of the season when teams can be on the beach. United have achieved their objective for the season and could be forgiven for taking their foot off the pedal. There is a beach less than a mile from the Stadium of Light, but this wasn’t a day for building sandcastles.
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The temperature barely crept above zero and it would have been pretty frosty in that away dressing room at full-time. Carrick has already done enough to land this job beyond the end of the season, but a veteran of the Sir Alex Ferguson era who cut his teeth coaching under Jose Mourinho isn’t the type to abide a performance such as this one.
Carrick had said on Thursday that he was aware some players hadn’t played as much as they might have hoped, but we’ll never know how much his selection in the north east was based on remedying that, and how much was due to injuries.
The loss of Casemiro was certainly damaging. Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount are technically sound midfielders, but they lacked the bite required in the centre of the pitch in the Premier League. It was a reminder of why signing the right No.6 this summer is the centrepiece of the transfer window.
Casemiro’s passing is an often underrated weapon and United did struggle to progress the ball between the lines, but they also lacked presence. The five-time Champions League winner will take some replacing, and whether it’s Elliot Anderson, Aurelien Tchouameni or someone else who is tasked with the job, they have big boots to fill.
Mount worked hard defensively and put himself about, but he certainly didn’t look the answer in a deeper role. Neither did Joshua Zirkzee as a No.9. Mount and Zirkzee were making their first starts under Carrick and if these were intended auditions, neither passed, although it is Mount who clearly has the more secure Old Trafford future.
With Champions League football secure, Carrick knows United need a bigger squad, and he will need to use more players next season. This was evidence that, as it stands, this squad isn’t equipped with the depth required to compete on two fronts.
They just couldn’t keep possession in the early stages and their problems were twofold. Sunderland’s aggressive press forced them to regularly cough up the ball in dangerous areas, with Lisandro Martinez struggling to find his radar and the rest of the back four not in the same league when it comes to taking the ball under pressure.
To try and alleviate some of the pressure, Senne Lammens was going long. The Belgian was stung by his first major error with the ball at his feet last weekend and looked keen to avoid a repeat, but Zirkzee lacks the physicality and tenacity to make those passes stick. He was bullied by Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete.
Lammens might not yet be pinging passes between the lines, but he is making saves. He denied Noah Sadiki with a superb stop after Sunderland had cut through United, then flung himself at Brian Brobbey’s feet after the striker had turned Martinez.
Chances at the other end were few and far between. Amad curled a shot just wide and Zirkzee sent a free header over. Even the half-chances were more promising for Sunderland. Sadiki had another shot blocked and Brobbey, who was all over Martinez, dragged a shot wide.
The second half offered little respite. United’s best opportunity came early, when a fortunate deflection sent the ball spinning through to Amad, only for the Sunderland loanee to get his pass into the middle wrong.
Sunderland soon had the whip hand again. Lammens produced an excellent save from Brobbey after a scrappy passage of play in which the hosts’ desire to win the ball was the difference.
Carrick tried to muster a response from the bench, turning to the returning Patrick Dorgu and the dropped Bryan Mbeumo, but it had little effect.
He will at least console himself with the fact that the job is done for this season. But this was the first glimpse of what will be needed next season, when United will play closer to 60 games than 40. It only highlighted how much work there is to do this summer, and that director of football Jason Wilcox and head of recruitment Christopher Vivell have to ensure they equip Carrick with a stronger squad than this.
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