No need to panic

Michael Carrick's first defeat shouldn't be too costly

SIX ASIDES
Premier League
Newcastle 2, United 1

They always lose at Newcastle … but not like this. From the minute Jacob Ramsey was sent off, just before half-time with the score still 0-0, United should have been able to waltz to victory. It might have been a slow waltz, but there had to be goals to be found as the ten men tired. Instead United were toiling towards a frustrating draw when William Osula, who hadn’t scored in the league since August, suddenly conjured a 90th-minute winner. He was helped by being up against Tyrell Malacia, who hadn’t played since Boxing Day. United can at least console themselves with the fact that it took a worldie to beat them.

This team have forgotten how to cope with a three-day turnaround. They had faced only three of them this season before last night, all under different managers and all resulting in points dropped on the road. There was the fiasco at Grimsby under Ruben Amorim, the 2-2 draw at Burnley under Darren Fletcher, and the 1-1 draw at West Ham under Michael Carrick. All those games should have been won.

This game should have been drawn, even allowing for Newcastle’s spirited reaction to going a man down, and the way they fed off the crowd’s fury. United were silly to pick up yellow cards (thoughtless from Luke Shaw, idiotic from Bryan Mbeumo) and sillier still to concede the penalty (rash from Bruno Fernandes, who atoned instantly with yet another classy assist). They were sloppy with their passes early on, for the second game running: the main offender was Casemiro, perhaps suffering from middle-aged brain fog after playing all 100 minutes against Palace. They wasted good openings by shooting rather than passing (Matheus Cunha, as so often) or declining to bust a gut to meet a cross (Mbeumo, less typically). They were slow to move the ball around – an ailment that the coaches diagnosed and healed, but not until the middle of the second half. Against ten men, what you need most is width. United had it on the right, with Mbeumo and then Amad and Diogo Dalot, but lacked it on the left, where Cunha was mostly going it alone rather than slipping in Shaw or Malacia to cross. Once again, the whole club paid a price for Amorim’s purge of the left-wingers.

For the first time in 11 games as United manager across two spells, Carrick tasted defeat, and for the first time he was outwitted by his opposite number. Eddie Howe worked out that Carrick’s game-plan relies on swarming one side of the field, and obviously told his team to go for big switches, which they executed well: even Dan Burn produced one for the ages. Carrick used more subs than usual (all five), but left it late to send on any forwards (Amad and Joshua Zirkzee, both in the 77th minute). Zirkzee came up with a great shot, but like his header against the ten men of Everton, it drew a great save. United could have done with a bright young thing on the bench, such as Shea Lacey or even JJ Gabriel, who is 15 and on fire.

The Carrick effect has been fading. In his first four games, including the triumphs over the top two, United won all 12 points with a goal difference of 10-4. In his last four it’s been seven points and 5-4. Those first four games featured three goals from Mbeumo and two each from Cunha and Dorgu. Since then, Dorgu’s been injured, the other two have been toothless, and all United’s goals in open play have come from Benjamin Sesko, who finally drew a blank last night. Mbeumo has joined Amad in a post-Afcon slump, Lisandro Martinez’s piercing passes have been sorely missed, and the forward line may not have been getting enough from a set of coaches whose expertise leans towards defence.

But let’s not overreact: seven points from four games, three of them away, still adds up to a decent haul. Snatching a defeat from the jaws of a draw costs you no more than a point and some bruised pride. Villa lost last night too, so United remain third. Of their rivals for the bronze medal, only Chelsea, who won at Villa Park, have gained on them in this midweek, and nobody has gained on them over the past three games. In the league table since Carrick took over in mid-January, United are still top, with 19 points from eight games, ahead of Arsenal, who have 18 from nine. There’s no need to panic. They won’t face another three-day turnaround this season, because they have no more midweek games. The ten-day break that has just begun, which could have been a drag, should now come as a relief. The next game is right up United’s street – at home, against a top-four rival (Villa, who have fallen apart lately), with plenty of time for homework. The players need to recharge, the coaches need to rethink a little, the fans need to relax and keep as calm as Carrick does.

Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian. He’s been supporting United since the days when they beat Newcastle in a final. And then did it again.