Michael Carrick must fix glaring problem if Man Utd are to win as horror stats reveal why Red Devils can’t compete

MANCHESTER UNITED’S issues on the football pitch so far can be boiled down to one of the oldest problems in the book. On Wednesday the season went from bad to worse as Michael Carrick‘s side fell to a shocking 2-3 defeat to Brighton in the League Cup, losing at Old Trafford after leading 2-0 for the first time in 42 YEARS. Michael Carrick’s Man Utd have a glaring problem to fix Credit: Getty And it comes down to players simply not running enough Credit: Getty But glaring issues in recruitment, squad profiling, and retaining stars far past their sell by date are merely the surface issues plaguing them at the moment. Instead, Man Utd can put a large portion of their issues down to something that is totally unforgiveable to fans; they don’t run enough. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! Man Utd have looked leggy in the latter stages of matches this season, which is a huge issue given the modern Premier League has some of the fittest players in world football across the league. Indeed, in every Premier League match this season they have been outrun by their opponent, except for their loss to Manchester City – who played with 10 men for the majority of the game after Phil Foden‘s sending off. The opener against Hull saw Carrick’s side run 1.9km less than the Tigers in the 2-0 defeat, with the home win over Ipswich seeing the Tractor Boys run 112.8km to Man Utd’s 112.1km. Then against Everton the difference was the Toffees 112.5km to 110km by United. Running, sprinting distance and number of sprints also saw Carrick’s side behind their opponents in each game bar the City defeat. The overall numbers against the wider league do NOT paint a pretty picture either. Most read in Sport CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS They rank 14th in the league for total distance covered at 449.1km. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they rank down in 18th for sprints (379), sprints per km covered (0.84km), and then 19th for high speed runs (1,364) and high speed runs per km (3.04km). Following his arrival last season, Carrick was credited for making training sessions shorter and sharper following the Ruben Amorim era. It paid dividends as they reacted to make the top four and earn a spot in the Champions League. How Man Utd’s running stats compare to Prem rivals so far this season Man Utd ratings vs Brighton: Lacey a shining light on dark evening as Heaven and Yoro ripped apart MANCHESTER UNITED suffered a humiliating Carabao Cup exit at Old Trafford as Brighton came from two goals down to reach the last 16. It is the first time in 50 years that United have held a 2-0 lead at Old Trafford and lost the game. The Red Devils were in dreamland after early goals from Shea Lacey and Mason Mount, before the Seagulls took control and mounted a stunning comeback. United have not won a domestic cup match since beating Leicester in the FA Cup in February 2025 and again crashed out at first attempt of the Carabao Cup following last season’s horror show at Grimsby. Michael Carrick is feeling the heat after goals Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper ended one of two potential trophy hopes this season. Here’s how SunSport’s Katherine Walsh rated the United players from Old Trafford, as Brighton picked up a fifth straight victory in M16... However, a pre-season interview with Rio Ferdinand and Youri Tielemans saw the new signing admit there hadn’t been loads of running, which explained was the case given the minutes at the World Cup. And those methods and the apparent lack of fitness work being done to make the squad physically fit enough to compete for a full 90 minutes could be part of the reason Man Utd are struggling this season. Conversely, their next opponents, Fulham, are top of the league when it comes to distance covered – having covered a whopping 6.6km more on average per match so far this season. It has been made abundantly clear Man Utd players aren’t good enough to walk through matches, so hard work is the bare minimum required to win. Man Utd are yet to win away from home this campaign. But rewarding the travelling away support with a precious win in London would be a huge step in attempting to course correct the season before it becomes a write off. Comment now