Michael Carrick Kept His Cool When the Pitchforks Came Out, and Manchester United Rewarded Him for It

• Manchester United responded to their opening day defeat at Hull City with a 5-2 demolition of Ipswich Town at Old Trafford, featuring a Bruno Fernandes hat-trick and 33 shots on goal
• Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo were both outstanding on their returns to the starting lineup after missing the Hull match due to post-World Cup rustiness
• Carrick acknowledged United still need a left back before the transfer window closes Tuesday, with Lewis Hall their top target but Newcastle unwilling to negotiate

A week that started with everything being wrong ended with a lot being right

Michael Carrick looked exasperated during his Friday news conference. “When Manchester United lose a game,” he said, “everything is wrong. I think it’s so easy to say, ‘This is wrong, that is wrong.'” It had been a rough week. The defeat at Hull City on the opening weekend was probably his lowest moment as United head coach, and he knew that another stumble against Ipswich Town at Old Trafford would turn the volume up to a level that even his famously calm temperament would struggle to absorb.

He was perhaps fearing the worst when Ipswich took the lead on Sunday. Then Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick, Harry Maguire’s deflected effort somehow stood despite a handball debate, Bryan Mbeumo added a late fifth, and United had won 5-2 in a performance that produced 33 shots, their most in a league match for almost 10 years. It was the first time United had scored five in a Premier League game since August 2021.

Carrick was able to smile afterward. “It’s a week in football, isn’t it, I think? The ups and downs,” he said. “The most pleasing thing for me was, we spoke about actually in the week, about dealing with setbacks. If you want to be a good team and a successful team, every team gets beat and you’ve got to deal with setbacks in certain ways. For the way they bounced back and put in a performance like we did, that’s probably the biggest thing to take. There’s a lot of highlights, and there’s a lot of really good football today.”

The biggest difference from the Hull horror show was personnel. Carrick could not pick Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo at the KCOM Stadium while they were still rusty after the World Cup. Back in the team against Ipswich, both were outstanding. Martinez’s distribution from center half was close to flawless, his performance only slightly dampened by a late mistake that allowed a consolation. Mainoo’s best moment came in the second half when he danced through three Ipswich challenges in midfield before sliding a pass through to Matheus Cunha, who won a penalty for Fernandes.

Marcus Rashford was bright on his return to Old Trafford for the first time since December 2024. Fernandes, with an assist for Mbeumo to go alongside his three goals, was imperious.

Five goals and a first win of the season does not mean there are no issues to address. Luke Shaw was at fault for one of Hull’s goals last weekend and had another difficult afternoon. He was outpaced by Julio Enciso early on before Senne Lammens came to his rescue, and he will not want to see a replay of Ipswich’s first goal. There did not seem to be much happening when Abdul Fatawu received the ball on the touchline, but in a flash Ipswich’s winger nutmegged Shaw before racing to the byline to cross for Leif Davis to score. Shaw said afterward he was “angry and disappointed.”

United are still in the market for a left back before the transfer window closes Tuesday. They looked at Davis the last time they signed a fullback, when Patrick Dorgu arrived in January 2025. Lewis Hall was United’s top target heading into the summer, but Newcastle’s unwillingness to negotiate may put that pursuit on ice for at least a year. The expectation is that any incoming fullback would be an understudy to Shaw rather than a marquee addition.

“The situation that we’re in, the business that we’ve managed to do, I’m pleased with it,” Carrick said. “I think we’re a better group, a better squad, potentially a better team, you know. So, in that respect, we’re quite happy. We’re always open to if there’s something else to be able to add, so I wouldn’t shut that down, but as it stands, we’ll have to wait and see.”

United’s approach under Carrick has been to build the squad carefully and gradually. The forward line was overhauled last summer. In this window, the midfield was the priority. In 12 months, it will be time for the defense. As well as two fullbacks, there is an argument that United still need a new center back even though five are already in the squad.

If nothing else, Carrick has earned the right to stay calm. He has overseen just three defeats since his appointment as interim head coach in January. A bad day at Hull was followed by a very good one against Ipswich, and his team backed up his insistence that not everything is wrong at Old Trafford by doing a lot right.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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