Will Man United's latest escape act save Carrick?

Emma Paton (0:06)

Manchester United will spend the November international break in the relegation zone after just one win in their opening 10 Premier League games. Two injury time goals were enough to salvage an unlikely point against Unai Emery's Aston Villa, but will it be enough to save Michael Carrick? This is The Athletic FC Podcast.

Hi, everyone. Emma here. We've got a full house in the studio today. Tim Spears is here. Hello. Good morning.

Tim Spiers (0:35)

Here we go.

Emma Paton (0:35)

Good morning.

Keris Jones (0:36)

Here we go.

Emma Paton (0:36)

Buckle up. Rob Green is back as always on a Monday.

Keris Jones (0:39)

Morning.

Emma Paton (0:39)

How are we doing? I'm good. You all right?

Rob Green (0:41)

Good, good, good. Refreshed and ready.

Tim Spiers (0:43)

Good. Refreshed.

Emma Paton (0:44)

That's what we like to hear, isn't it? And Colin Millar is here as well. How are we doing?

Colin Millar (0:47)

I'm very well. How are you?

Emma Paton (0:48)

Good. Thank you. Ready for the international break people or how are we feeling?

Rob Green (0:52)

I just want the games to keep on coming. They're going to carry on like they were yesterday.

Emma Paton (0:55)

It was great fun. That is a really good place to start actually, Rob, because as always on a Monday, it feels like inevitably at the moment, we're talking about Manchester United and about Michael Carrick. So we've got to start with Sunday's eight goal thriller at Old Trafford that saw Manchester United twice come back from two goals down to earn a point. Tim, how do they keep doing it every single week managing to out-united themselves?

Tim Spiers (1:19)

You know when people are like, what are you watching on TV right now? What are you enjoying? I would say like Man United games.

Keris Jones (1:26)

That's my current sort of reply.

Tim Spiers (1:28)

Yeah, what box set are you watching? Man United 26-27.

It's just nuts every single week. Have you ever seen a team come from four-two down in stoppage time, but not be sort of particularly happy about it? They do this lap of honour at full time and everyone just looks so miserable.

It's fun for United at the moment, but in a kind of a macabre sort of rubbernecking sort of way. It's just crazy. And why does it keep happening? Well, it's the same defence that's been for three years. You know, it's still Dallow struggling at left back with not much help in front of him. It's still this weird midfield with Telemans and Fernandes, neither of whom can really run properly. You know, so I kind of feel sorry for Carrick. I feel like he needs to be maybe put out of his misery because he just he looks broken to me, you know.

Rob Green (2:14)

Well, they managed to do against Roma, you know, what they did in the week twice in one game. It was incredible how he fit so much drama of one game into one half, and then repeat it again was just something like we'd never seen before in the Premier League, not in Premier League history as a team managed to do that. So it's something that, well, they keep on breaking records, don't they, in some way, shape or form.

Tim Spiers (2:38)

So it's-

Emma Paton (2:39)

Not for good, I don't think. No. Tim touched on the defence there, Colin, but to be 2-0 down after four minutes, then conceding twice, just eight minutes into the second half.

What on earth is going on? Because this is the same old patterns, isn't it, with United this season?

Colin Millar (2:53)

Yeah, it's conceding goals and clusters, isn't it? And it's conceding goals and clusters at the start of halves. And I think the confidence issue in players is there. You can see the weight of the club, the weight of the position that they have found themselves in. The goals are actually starting to flow now. I mean, four goals against Aston Villa, three goals against Roma. But at the other end of the pitch, there's major, major issues. When you talk about Manchester United's defensive issues, you can't separate that from the coaching and what they go through during the week. Because obviously, that has to be an issue that is addressed. But these are a lot of individual mistakes and a lot of incidents that I think are kind of unaccountable for from a coaching point of view too, that are just a case of maybe players being slightly either out of position or maybe it's the likes of Diogo Dalu who didn't get the nicest reception coming off. But I kind of feel a bit sorry for him because he's not a left-back.