Manchester United: Running stats for Michael Carrick’s side examined after intensity criticism in draw at Fulham

Manchester United: Running stats for Michael Carrick’s side examined after intensity criticism in draw at Fulham | Football News

September 21, 2026:

Manchester United: Running stats for Michael Carrick’s side examined after intensity criticism in draw at Fulham | Football News

Manchester United’s intensity levels are back in the spotlight after their 1-1 draw at Fulham in the Premier League.

Matheus Cunha gave a damning view from inside the squad, telling Sky Sports: “They put in more energy than us, we cannot accept this.”

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said: “I’ve never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that.”

So what do the stats say about United’s work-rate at Craven Cottage – and how big a problem is it for Michael Carrick?

High-speed runs

Man Utd rank joint-bottom in the Premier League for high-speed runs, according to Opta.

They are level with Man City on 1691 high-speed runs – but their neighbours played with 10 men for the majority of the derby at Old Trafford, which needs to be factored into their figures.

Walking

Man Utd spent 52.98 per cent of their time out of possession at Fulham walking.

Seven teams have posted a higher figure this term, although it is the highest percentage Man Utd have recorded this season.

United’s average for this campaign of 51.13 per cent ranks them 17th in the Premier League.

Since the start of last season there have been 30 times a team has spent a greater percentage of time walking out of possession in a Premier League match than Man Utd did at Fulham.

That includes the 54.59 per cent United recorded in their 3-0 win at Brighton on the final day of last season.

Distance covered

Man Utd ran 110.2km on Sunday – the second-lowest total of the Premier League weekend, behind Liverpool’s 108.4km figure at Bournemouth.

United ran 6.5km less than Fulham – the second biggest difference between teams this season when both keep 11 men on the pitch. (Arsenal out-ran Coventry by 6.8km on the opening night of the season).

Man Utd have also been out-run in terms of distance by Hull, Ipswich and Everton this season. Man City – who had Phil Foden sent off after 23 minutes – are the only side United have run further than in the Premier League this term.

Dropping deep

Man Utd allowed Fulham to start their passing sequences, on average, 36.9m from the United goal. That is the nearest any team allowed their opponents to begin from, on average, in the Premier League this past weekend.

It reflects how United sat deep out of possession at Craven Cottage.

Fulham, by contrast, allowed United to start attacks 43.4m from their goal, on average – the third-highest figure of the latest round of matches.

Allowing Fulham to pass

In his post-match analysis, Neville referenced Fulham’s amount of 10+ passing sequences.

Fulham had more ‘build-up attacks’ (10+ passing sequences that end in a shot or touch in the opposition box) than any other side this weekend.

But was it all part of the plan?

It’s worth pointing out United boss Carrick rejected the suggestion United had energy issues in the game when Cunha’s quotes were put to him in his post-match press conference. “The way we finished the game it didn’t look like that for me,” he said.

Their ‘progress’ stat, measuring metres gained per passing sequence, was top for this latest round of Premier League games, showing how they were able to advance far up the pitch from their deep starting position when they won the ball back off Fulham.

In fact, their 36 penalty-box entries was the most of any team in any Premier League game this season.

United had 29 shots at Fulham – including two against the woodwork in the first half. That has contributed to their total of 113 shots this season, which is the most of any team.

They also have the third-best Expected Goals total in the Premier League of 10.24.

So what does it all mean?

The problem for Carrick is those positive numbers around their attacking play are overshadowed by taking just five points from their first five games – at the beginning of a campaign where United fans had been excited about their team kicking on from their third-place finish last season.

Their frustrations around results and performances have then been further fuelled by low-ranking running stats.

A failure to beat bottom-of-the-table Tottenham after the international break would turn this into United’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season and raise more hard-hitting questions about the output of Carrick’s team.

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