Nobody panic. It was one, very good, late goal. One defeat. Michael Carrick’s first in eight games as Manchester United’s head coach.
A shock to the system. A spanner in the works. A reminder to the United fans dusting off their passports that the Champions League might not be their guaranteed destination in Europe next season.
No, what should worry them more is not the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle itself, but the manner of it – and the fact that this result feels like it has been coming for several games now.
United were undeniably poor at West Ham, not much better at Everton and below-par in the first half against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Each time, they have found a positive solution, snatching a late draw at the London Stadium and wins in the next two games thanks to three big goals from Benjamin Sesko.
A debatable red-card decision went in their favour against Palace and again on Tyneside on Wednesday night, but this time Carrick’s side failed miserably to make the most of their advantage.
The 44-year-old now faces his biggest challenge since he succeeded Ruben Amorim at short notice in January and had to play Manchester City and Arsenal in his first two games.
Michael Carrick showed a new side of himself after Man United’s defeat by Newcastle
Carrick suffered his first defeat since succeeding Ruben Amorim as the club’s head coach
United’s next fixture is against Aston Villa at Old Trafford a week on Sunday; a huge game in the race for Champions League qualification.
The two clubs remain level on points after both lost on Wednesday when Villa went down 4-1 at home to fourth-placed Chelsea who have closed the gap. Villa’s second defeat in a row after losing to bottom club Wolves should put Carrick’s first setback in perspective.
United have home advantage against a Villa side who face an important Europa League tie against Lille three days’ earlier. There is every reason to believe they can win to open up some daylight between them and Unai Emery’s side, but clearly there is work to do in the 11-day break afforded by their absence from the FA Cup fifth-round.
We have heard so much about the positive impact Carrick and his staff have had on the club since he replaced Amorim. The experience of Steve Holland, the influence of Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans, and Travis Binnion’s ability to get the best out of young players.
Well, now is the time to make it count after a difficult day for the club in the north-east that began with Jack Fletcher’s six-match ban for using a homophobic slur in an EFL Trophy match, and only got worse when news filtered through from the Greek island of Syros that Harry Maguire had been found guilty of non-serious assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery, and handed a suspended 15-month sentence.
To be fair to Maguire, it didn’t seem to affect him. He hardly put a foot wrong all night and won just about every header. When William Osula cut inside from the right in the 90th minute and used Maguire as a shield to leave Senne Lammens unsighted as he curled a fantastic shot inside the post, it seemed fairer to credit the Newcastle substitute with a sensational winner than find fault with Maguire.
Lionel Messi once did exactly the same to Phil Jones at the Nou Camp, and sometimes you have to salute genius when you see it.
But United shouldn’t have even been in that position in the first place, level at 1-1 against 10 men going into injury-time.
Handed the numerical advantage when referee Peter Bankes harshly showed Jacob Ramsey a second yellow card for simulation in added time at the end of the first half, United should have gone on to win.
They aren’t the first team to struggle against the pace of Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga, the height of Dan Burn, and the roar of St James’ Park. But in situations like this, good teams kill off the opposition.
Instead, it was Newcastle who grew stronger in the second half. They had only marginally less possession, the same number of shots on target and a higher xG.
United, in contrast, were laboured and lethargic. ‘It felt like they expected to win and it would just happen,’ said Owen Hargreaves on TNT Sports, and he had a point.
United have relied on individual moments of brilliance at times under Carrick, and on this occasion it wasn’t enough.
United’s defeat had been weeks in the making, with recent results being pinned on individual brilliance from key players like Bruno Fernandes
Hargreaves highlighted the lack of aggression and United’s failure to make the extra man count by stretching the game across the pitch. Matheus Cunha’s tendency to drift inside doesn’t help in that regard, and this performance did nothing to sway the debate that he isn’t a natural fit for the left berth in Carrick’s 4-2-3-1 system.
Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo both struggled to have the impact you would expect of players of their calibre. Benjamin Sesko never looked close to extending his run of seven goals in eight games before kick-off.
With Noussair Mazraoui starting at right-back and Luke Shaw at left-back – still showing the effects of the illness that forced him off against Palace, and maybe an elbow from Burn as well – United didn’t get at Newcastle down the flanks at all.
It was left to Bruno Fernandes, as usual, to be their creative spark after he was guilty of the foul on Gordon that enabled the winger to fire his team ahead from the spot.
Fernandes got another assist for Casemiro’s equaliser and then picked Newcastle apart with a string of excellent passes in the second half to set up chances that went unconverted by Mbeumo, Cunha, Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte.
Afterwards, Carrick showed a side of himself that he hasn’t had to show so far. Irked and slightly irritated in the face of questions about his first defeat.
Asked why the character was lacking in his team, Carrick replied curtly. ‘It wasn’t. It was just the quality of the performance. It’s easy to throw that just because you don’t win a game of football.
‘We’ve only lost one game alright. We haven’t played well enough, but in the grand scheme of things we’re in a decent position.’
Carrick has consistently said that he isn’t getting carried away since he took over, and that clearly applies to defeats as well as victories. He’s the last person you would expect to panic after one bad result, but he knows United need a response now.
