Michael Carrick's mediocre Man Utd are sleepwalking into another crisis thanks to INEOS' unforgivable naivety

"It's not that bad, you know," Carrick said when assessing United's start to the season in his post-match press conference. "We were that close to coming away with three points. That's football. There were little moments we can deal with a bit better, but we'll be fine. The mentality is there."

The former United midfielder was always a composed, steady presence on the pitch, and he's the same as a manager. He is not going to make the same mistakes as Ruben Amorim, who alienated supporters and board members with his brutal honesty. Carrick will protect the players as much as possible and try to keep the mood around the club positive. But this team won't be "fine", because that would mean pushing Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the table come the business end of the campaign.

United have only taken four points from games against newly-promoted duo Hull City and Ipswich, and Everton. Carrick is right to point out that there has been no lack of effort, but genuine quality has been in short supply, particularly at the back.

Indeed, the Red Devils have conceded two or more goals in their first three games of a league season for only the second time in the last half-century. Carrick cannot deliver consistency with a defence this vulnerable, not with the massive increase in matches now that United are back in Europe.

"They have a liability of conceding goals and it's not going away. That is my fear," United legend Gary Neville said on Sky Sports. "Conceding goals will hunt them and chase them down the road. I'm not sure how Carrick will deal with it as he's already got his best back four on the pitch. Teams have the feeling that they can score. That's a horrible place to be at."

Incredibly, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot have been United's first choice full-backs since 2018. Shaw played well at Goodison Park, but his best years are behind him at 31, and he's not robust enough to start three games a week, while Dalot has always been a bang-average defender whose decision-making lets him down in the final third.

In the centre, Harry Maguire brings bags of know-how and aerial prowess, but his mobility is worse than ever at 33, and Lisandro Martinez no longer has the pace to balance out the partnership after years of serious fitness problems. With the same back four Erik ten Hag fielded at the start of his ill-fated reign in 2022, how can United hope to improve on last season's third-placed finish? As Neville alluded to, Carrick doesn't have the luxury of depth, either.

Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven are still young and raw, Patrick Dorgu is better as a winger than a full-back, and Noussair Mazraoui doesn't measure up to Dalot in terms of physicality. United badly miss Matthijs de Ligt, but the Dutchman has been out of action since November due to a chronic back injury and still doesn't have a firm return date.

It has been reported that INEOS came up with a three-tiered transfer plan to fix the damage done before their takeover in early 2024. After a decade of blowing money on flop signings (think Antony, Jadon Sancho, Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba), United CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox shifted focus to Premier League-proven targets and modernising one specific area of the squad each summer.

That process began with the attack last year, as Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko all arrived for a combined fee of around £215m ($291m). That trio enjoyed an impressive debut year, generating 32 goals between them to fire United back into the Champions League, and so phase one of the plan was considered a success.

Phase two was the midfield overhaul, which was made even more essential after the departure of Brazilian cult hero Casemiro and a serious ACL injury suffered by Manuel Ugarte. United spent a total of £155m ($209m) on Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos, with the aim of giving Carrick the athleticism and technical wizardry he needs to mould a team that can control games instead of relying on individual brilliance.

According to The Telegraph's James Ducker, INEOS will look to bring in up to four new defenders next year to complete the plan, which they are hoping will culminate in a Premier League title triumph to coincide with United's 150-year anniversary celebrations in 2028. It is, however, unforgivably naïve for Ratcliffe and his team to have stuck to this blueprint so blindly without properly factoring in the changing climate of the division.

Arsenal's title success in 2025-26 was built on a rock solid defence that only let in 27 goals. Second-placed City let in just 35, while United shipped 50. At a minimum, Carrick needed another left-back to compete with Shaw and another experienced centre-half to start closing that huge gap.

Yes, INEOS did solve the long-standing goalkeeping issue last year by signing Lammens from Royal Antwerp for just £18m ($24m), but the Belgian continues to be left exposed by the men in front of him. There were enquires for Newcastle's Lewis Hall, Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Alejandro Balde and Jorge Salinas of Barcelona and Racing Santander, respectively, among others, but the situation wasn't deemed urgent enough to submit any formal offers.

Does all of that mean that INEOS were prepared to let this season be another learning experience? Of course not. If Carrick doesn't get United back into the Premier League's top four and win a trophy, it will be deemed a failure, so Ratcliffe must be happy with the state of the current squad.

His judgment cannot be trusted if that is the case. Ratcliffe has been open about the club's large debts in recent times, and United neglected to get into bidding wars for the likes of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, which was the right call.

But United should have been far more proactive about offloading more deadwood to raise extra funds for new players. Ineffective frontman Joshua Zirkzee should have been sold right at the start of the summer window, and Marcus Rashford should never have been let back into Carrington after his loan stints at Barcelona and Aston Villa.

Getting Rashford's £325,000 per week wages off their books would have been hugely significant. Instead, United reintegrated a player who had effectively downed tools and forced his way out just 20 months earlier. Carrick has hardly put a foot wrong since replacing Amorim, but giving the green light for Rashford's return risked undermining all of his good work in bringing the dressing room together. It won't be a surprise if he reverts to type when United's collective malaise worsens.

Bringing another attacker in was a necessity to ease the burden on Sesko, but Rashford was not the answer; even if you put the Englishman's attitude to one side, he's only ever delivered in patches as both a No.9 and winger, and we've seen that his end product remains erratic in United's last three games. They should have gone for Ollie Watkins when it became clear he wanted out at Aston Villa, or another academy product in Danny Welbeck, who would have been far more useful to United than he will be to a Chelsea team who already have a top-class striker in Joao Pedro.

If signing a new centre-forward was never given real thought in the United boardroom, then more care should have gone into the selection of the midfield targets, too. Of all the qualities that Baleba, Tielemans and Santos possess, goal-scoring is not one of them, so they won't be able to completely fill the void left by Casemiro, who was a constant threat from set-pieces.

Carrick is trying to put clear patterns of play in place now, but there will be no meaningful evolution because INEOS have not given him the proper tools. It took a superb solo run from Mbeumo for United to finally open up Everton, and Ipswich were on course for at least a draw at Old Trafford before Maguire's controversial strike put United ahead, and that contest then became the Bruno Fernandes show.

United have players who can produce moments of magic, which means they're capable of winning any one-off game. But they're equally as capable of imploding, and that uncertainty ensures that the 'one step forward, two steps back' cycle continues.

It's wildly unfair, but Carrick is probably going to come under pressure very soon, maybe even by the end of next weekend. United open their Champions League campaign at home to tournament debutants Sabah on Thursday, and only a convincing win will be acceptable. Then there's the matter of a derby clash with City at Old Trafford three days later.

Lose that, and any slim remaining title ambitions are wiped out completely. United have games against Tottenham, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea to come before the end of October, too. Their plight is "not that bad" yet, but it's just a matter of time before the wheels come off. When that happens, all of the blame should be placed at INEOS' door.