Five issues Michael Carrick and Man Utd should address during Red Devils' 12-day break between matches

Sesko continued to slowly pay off his £74 million ($101m) transfer fee with his improvised flick into the West Ham net, and it is about time the Slovenia international got to start a game again. United's most expensive signing of last summer has had a few teething problems since switching from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, but he has scored five times since the turn of the year, with his four league goals - a double at Burnley, the 94th-minute winner over Fulham and his 96th-minute leveller in east London - being worth four points to the team.

Sesko has played just over 60 minutes of football under Carrick out of a potential total of 450, but it was the second time in three games he had rescued a result. As United toiled for the first half and the early stages of the second, they were crying out for a target man to aim crosses at, and Carrick later admitted that he should have introduced the striker before he finally called on him in the 69th minute.

United will face a similar challenge as they did at West Ham in their next game at Everton, so Sesko needs to start to give the team another outlet against a team who are equally happy to sit deep and block their opponents' usual pathways to goal.

One thing that Ruben Amorim and Carrick seem to have in common is that their teams tend do better when they have the ball less. In the last four weeks, United have beaten Manchester City with 32 percent possession, overcome Arsenal with 44% and beaten Fulham with a surprisingly low 42%, when everyone expected the Cottagers to sit back and invite pressure. 

The Red Devils did knock Tottenham over with 65% of the ball, but they had the obvious advantage of playing with an extra man for over an hour. They had the same amount of possession against West Ham but for the most part didn't know what to do with it. 

United's next few opponents will be paying close attention, and it means upcoming games against Everton and Crystal Palace will arguably be more difficult than if they were facing a top-five rival. Carrick ultimately failed at Middlesbrough after an excellent first season because his side became too predictable in possession, and he must make sure his United do not succumb to the same fate.

It was difficult to not see an obvious reason why United's winning run was halted at West Ham, despite the Irons being the lowest-ranked team they had faced under Carrick. The Red Devils had only two full days' rest between their win over Tottenham and their trip to the capital, and despite the short turnaround, Carrick named an unchanged starting XI, and more than a few players looked physically and mentally drained as a result.

Carrick has made much better use of the lack of European football than Amorim, using the time to prepare and recover for the next match, but if he is to achieve his goal of taking United back into the Champions League or even the Europa League, he - or whomever gets the job permanently - will have no such luxury and will have to embrace squad rotation.

United have plenty of time to recover from their exertions in east London, but in less than a month's time they will have another short turnaround to confront, with three days separating their home game against Palace and their trip to Newcastle, and Carrick will need to prepare the team better this time.

Ahead of of United's game at West Ham, news emerged that the club are close to agreeing a new contract for Harry Maguire. It is difficult to argue that the defender is not worth keeping around due to the example he sets and, when fit and used correctly, he is still a top-class centre-back. 

The problem is that Maguire's fitness is getting harder to rely upon. As if to underline that point, he was taken off in the second half at the London Stadium with an apparent hamstring scare.

Maguire has only recently returned from over two months out with a hamstring injury which led to him missing nine games, while last season, he spent two sizeable spells on the sidelines, missing a combined nine matches. Back in 2023-24, he also had two significant spells out, missing the end of the season and the European Championship.

Maguire told reporters on his way out of the stadium on Tuesday that he was "ok", but it was not the most encouraging sign if the club are serious about him extending his stay.

It is no secret that midfield is going to be United's major area of focus for their recruitment over the summer as they look to replace Casemiro and add more strength-in-depth in the middle of the park. But the West Ham game also highlighted their need to add a top-quality full-back or two to their ranks.

Luke Shaw made the biggest mistake of the game to hand the hosts the opening goal scored by Tomas Soucek. It was unfortunate timing, because Shaw had played well overall and he has been highly consistent this season while putting his major injury troubles behind him.

But even leaving aside his failure to clear a bouncing ball, Shaw does not have long left at the club, with his contract expiring in 2027. He is one of the great survivors, having been brought to Old Trafford during Louis van Gaal's first transfer window.

His fellow full-back Diogo Dalot did not have the best game either, putting in a shaky first-half display, although he did make a promising run behind which Amad Diallo failed to spot.