The Manchester United form keeps going from bad to worse, as they have earned seven points in eight Premier League matches so far. Their latest defeat came against Bournemouth, as the Red Devils lost the match 0-3.
The current Manchester United form should have got Michael Carrick sacked, but it has not happened yet somehow. The 45-year-old Englishman has managed to cling to his job, but the way his team is playing, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
Manchester United Form has not been Helped by Their Playing Style
The Manchester United form has once again made it pretty obvious that their playing style is quite one-dimensional.
The Red Devils only look comfortable when they are playing long balls forward and get into the opposition penalty box through quick build-ups. Man United typically struggle to string more than four passes together while building a move, and at least one of those passes is almost always a long one.
They are most comfortable playing brisk counter-attacking football, but do not have the quality in their forwards who can make use of those quick moves. Only Bryan Mbeumo looks equipped to make good use of those quick counter-attacks, having scored four goals this season so far in 10 matches. In addition to that, United do not have the full-backs adept at playing quality crosses into the opposition penalty box on a regular basis.
Carrick made a brief switch to a 3-4-3 from 4-2-3-1 in the first half against Leeds United, but it did not prove to be effective either.
Manchester United have not been able to master the art of playing small passes and building up slowly. It is still the same counter-attacking, direct style that has signified the terms of every Man United manager starting from Jose Mourinho to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to Erik ten Hag to Ruben Amorim to Carrick.
As a result, the Manchester United form has been pretty poor, and their playing style has looked quite outdated, to be frank. Unless and until there is some change in personnel and/or in the playing style and approach, the results are unlikely to change much.
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Extra Time Notes
Manchester United have already reportedly dabbled with the idea of appointing Antonio Conte as their manager. Even if Conte comes to the club, he is likely to place emphasis on playing with a back-three and provide width through wing-backs.
That will still mean extending the direct counter-attacking style, albeit with different players, probably, even if one accepts that the club will go heavy on selling some of the existing players and buying new players in the two upcoming transfer windows.
This means that the Manchester United form will probably continue to be bad until Christmas even if Conte comes to the scene, as there will be no change in the players. It is pretty difficult to think that Carrick will continue to be the manager of the club if the Manchester United form does not improve over the next two months.
Man United will travel to Chelsea this weekend, and it should prove to be another stiff test for them. Forget about the next two months, Carrick might find it hard to save his job even beyond this weekend if another undesirable result occurs in the match against Chelsea.
It now remains to be seen whether the current playing style of the Red Devils is good enough to see Carrick through this season. If the track record is considered, it is unlikely to be the case.
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