Man Utd: Why there shouldn’t be panic after Michael Carrick’s side suffered Premier League loss at Hull on opening day

Man Utd: Why there shouldn’t be panic after Michael Carrick’s side suffered Premier League loss at Hull on opening day | Football News

August 24, 2026:

Man Utd: Why there shouldn’t be panic after Michael Carrick’s side suffered Premier League loss at Hull on opening day | Football News

I was at the game on Saturday and it was clear early on in the game that Manchester United were not at the races against Hull City.

Words will be bandied towards Michael Carrick’s side this week until their home game against Ipswich on Sunday; for example, a lack of intensity, aggression and intent on display.

But when I left Hull, I just felt it was a bit more nuanced than that.

It was a bad performance, for sure. Carrick’s side didn’t perform, and only he will truly know why, but from the off it was quite clear some of his main players are not quite up to match sharpness compared to where they will be in a few weeks.

Six of Carrick’s first-team players did have a full pre-season. But Carrick also had a new midfield duo playing together in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.

Off the bench, he had players nowhere near full fitness in Benjamin Sesko (has not played a minute of pre-season), as well as Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford, who have had limited minutes since returning from England duty in the summer.

Hull also deserve enormous credit for being a well-drilled outfit for their first Premier League game in nine years while also having a squad who have experienced a full pre-season to prepare for their opener.

Also, allow me a moment to myth-bust something I have seen across social media over the last few days since the defeat.

‘Four defeats out of five under Michael Carrick have come against sides who have played a back five’

Not having it. Look at the games!

Two of them were pre-season games, including United’s first of the summer against Wrexham and their last against Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan. If anyone is using these as barometers of a side struggling against a formation, it is simply not right.

Hull was bad. Leeds at Old Trafford last season was also bad. These two performances share a lot of similarities but I would argue the most common denominator is that I left both games thinking they were seriously lacking from a physical point of view and that will be Carrick’s most pressing thought.

I am more than willing, and Carrick has more than deserved, somewhat of a pass for the Hull result, and I would be extremely surprised if United were not considerably improved against Ipswich Town on Sunday.

So what are Man Utd’s plans for the remainder of the transfer window?

The midfield was Manchester United’s priority going into the season and they have gone some way to addressing it by spending over £150m in reinforcements, with Carlos Baleba the latest addition to their ranks.

But United find themselves in a similar situation to last summer – reinforcing your greatest need just highlights your next biggest gap within the squad.

Rewind back to 2025: the club had finally addressed their inefficiency up front by adding Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo but having sorted the attacking weaponry, it became even more obvious the midfield needed strengthening.

United waited 12 months as they did not want to sign a stop-gap midfielder for the sake of addressing the area and believed they would have a better run at the midfield market the following summer.

There is a similar feeling now when it comes to left-back. Now United have signed their three midfielders, the need for a left-back is a must.

The club have long admired Myles Lewis-Skelly and Lewis Hall and my feeling is they are top of United’s list in that position.

Both seem unattainable at this moment in time, with managers of both clubs dismissing any chances of their players leaving. In addition to Bruno Guimaraes’ injury, which especially seems to all but rule out a potential departure for Lewis-Skelly.

My feeling is that with United having focused on attack and midfield over the last two summer windows, they are willing to wait until next summer to address their defence – including a first-choice left-back when Luke Shaw‘s contract expires next summer.

Things could change of course, and I would not completely rule out United getting creative in terms of potentially adding a left-back in the last week of the window but at the moment, it seems unlikely.

Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde has been the latest player linked with United at left-back but from what I understand, although United are aware of his situation in Catalonia, it is not a name they are strongly pursuing at this time.

All in all, it is a lot of pressure on Luke Shaw to stay fit all season, and some reliance will need to be put on Patrick Dorgu at left-back. The club see his long-term future in that position.

Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot can also both deputise in that position too.

In terms of departures at United, at the time of writing, it seems unlikely any first-team players will leave the club before the deadline.

One potential departure this window was Dutch forward Joshua Zirzkee but interest from Italy has yet to materialise into anything concrete and he is expected to stay at the club.

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