Carrick restored belief and European football during a remarkable spring. By September, Old Trafford felt anxious again. Here is the case behind United's title price, including the uncomfortable evidence against them.
August arrived with genuine optimism. Carrick had dragged United from seventh to third, received the job permanently and watched the club remodel its midfield.
The first five weekends have punctured that feeling. One victory, two draws and two losses leave United in 12th with five points. City are already ten ahead. Cunha's deflected equaliser at Fulham stopped a third straight defeat, yet nobody mistook the escape for a convincing recovery.
Start at talkSPORT BET's football betting hub for the wider programme. Below, the focus stays on United's outright price, Carrick's problems and the narrow route back towards contention.
United's live position appears in the Premier League winner odds. A weak result can push the price out, while a winning sequence or an injury elsewhere may pull it back in.
This is a May question, not an autumn one. United must occupy first after match 38; reaching fourth or briefly leading over winter will not settle a straight winner bet.
Use the figure displayed on your completed slip. If an each-way choice appears, open its terms and confirm exactly which finishing positions are covered.
January's appointment transformed last season. Carrick collected 12 wins from 17 league fixtures, beat each of Arsenal, City, Liverpool and Chelsea, and carried United into third. The board saw enough to extend his stay until 2028.
That decision changed the standard. He is no longer the interim coach cleaning up somebody else's campaign. This team and its Champions League place now belong to him.
The new league season has brought a loss at Hull, a point against Everton, defeat in the derby and another point at Fulham. Only Ipswich have been beaten at the time of writing.
Brighton then added a cup humiliation. United were two goals up at home inside ten minutes and still lost 3-2. Carrick called the collapse unacceptable, an assessment few supporters would dispute.
The season is young, but ten points already separate United from first. A title attempt would require both an immediate improvement and a stumble from several teams above them.
Carrick speaks about United's standards from experience. Five league medals sit in his collection from his playing days, followed by work on the club's coaching staff and a first full managerial job at Middlesbrough.
His impact last season was built on simplicity. Players appeared clearer about their roles, the team moved the ball more quickly and confidence returned after a difficult first half of the campaign.
That clarity has faded during the opening weeks of 2026/27. United have produced good spells without controlling entire matches. The trip to Fulham produced 29 attempts and very little authority. A deflection on Cunha's 89th-minute strike rescued the point.
Questions about Carrick's security have arrived remarkably early for a coach contracted until 2028. He has brushed them aside while accepting that the answers are his responsibility.
The manager needs time to integrate his new midfield. He also needs results while doing it. Old Trafford rarely treats those two requirements as separate issues.
The most alarming numbers are not related to finishing. United entered the international break at the bottom of several Premier League running measures, including high-intensity distance, total sprints and time spent sprinting.
Fulham covered 6.6 kilometres more than Carrick's team. Cunha admitted that United had lacked energy and only reacted properly after falling behind, although the manager disputed that assessment.
Running further does not automatically make a team better. Movement still needs purpose and coordination. Yet Carrick's approach depends on players closing space, supporting attacks and recovering quickly when possession changes hands.
A passive side gives opponents time to lift their heads and choose a pass. It also leaves the forwards isolated because the midfield arrives too slowly to collect second balls.
This is fixable without a transfer window. The response must be visible in the next few matches, not merely discussed during the international break.
Bruno remains the player most likely to attempt the pass everybody else has ignored. He takes the armband, enters dangerous spaces and rarely hides when Old Trafford becomes impatient.
That influence can also become a problem if every attack waits for Bruno to create it. Opponents can crowd his space and force United towards safer areas, particularly when the midfield behind him is reluctant to play forwards.
Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo offer different solutions. Mount presses aggressively and makes off-ball runs, while Mainoo can receive under pressure and carry possession through midfield.
Carrick must decide where Fernandes causes the most damage. Starting deeper gives him more touches but takes him further from goal. Moving him forward can improve United's threat around the box, provided others can progress the ball without him.
A serious title challenge would need creativity from several positions. Bruno can lead the work; he cannot be expected to complete all of it.
The Fulham equaliser captured Cunha's appeal. He is neither a fixed striker nor a standard number ten, receiving in traffic before carrying the ball at whoever stands between him and goal.
Mbeumo runs more directly from the right and attacks the back post when the move develops elsewhere. Amad supplies another left-footed dribbler who is comfortable confronting his full-back.
Benjamin Šeško and Rasmus Højlund give Carrick two physical strikers. Šeško can threaten space behind a high line, while Højlund's strength is useful when United need a focal point.
The names suggest goals should not be scarce. The problem is creating repeatable chances rather than relying on a crowded shot count or an individual rescue.
United led the Premier League for total shots last season. That statistic mattered less than the quality and location of the attempts. Carrick needs his side to reach dangerous areas more cleanly and give the forwards chances before the opposition box becomes packed.
United used the summer to change the centre of the pitch. Carlos Baleba arrived from Brighton, while Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos added further competition.
Baleba supplies the athleticism that has often been missing. He can cover ground, win duels and carry the ball through pressure. An injury delayed his introduction, which has prevented Carrick from immediately using the midfield balance he planned.
Tielemans can alter the direction of a move with one long pass and already understands the pace of this league. Andrey Santos is younger and more mobile, capable of protecting the back line or stepping forward as an eight.
They join Fernandes, Mainoo, Mount, Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte. Carrick therefore has options, but options are not the same as a functioning unit. He needs a combination that protects the defence without leaving the attack disconnected.
The running concerns increase the importance of this area. If the midfield neither controls the ball nor wins it back quickly, United can look like two separate teams.
Lisandro Martínez, Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro and Harry Maguire give Carrick several centre-back combinations. Each brings a different strength, from Martínez's passing to Yoro's recovery pace.
United have still allowed matches to move away from them. The derby defeat and Brighton comeback exposed poor reactions after possession was lost, while Martínez's own goal at Fulham summed up a frustrating afternoon.
The full-back positions also affect the balance. Diogo Dalot, Patrick Dorgu, Luke Shaw and Noussair Mazraoui can all advance, but the space behind them must be covered.
Carrick wants United to play on the front foot. That cannot mean attacking with so many players that one lost pass produces an open run towards goal.
Title-winning sides survive matches when the attack misfires. United are not currently defending well enough to make one goal feel sufficient.
City have opened the season with five wins and sit ten points above United. The derby reinforced the present gap, even if Carrick's team beat Guardiola's side during his interim spell. Our Manchester City odds to win the Premier League guide examines why Maresca's team have flown out of the blocks and where their defence may still be vulnerable.
Arsenal possess the trophy and 12 points from 15. The champions suffered heavily at Brighton, but they remain structurally further along than United. Our Arsenal odds to win the Premier League page examines their attempt to retain the trophy.
Liverpool have endured their own transition under Iraola. Three draws have slowed them down, although an unbeaten league start still places the Reds four points above United. Explore the Liverpool odds to win the Premier League for the case surrounding their new coach and reshaped attack.
United took points from all three last season. Repeating those big performances will not be enough if matches against Hull, Everton and Fulham continue to produce so little.
Mathematically, nothing has been decided in September. Practically, the title has already become a remote target rather than the natural next step from third place.
Recovery begins with an ordinary task United have not yet managed: stringing league wins together. Until they escape the middle of the table, comparing their title chances with City or Arsenal feels premature.
Carrick needs a dependable midfield combination, cleaner supply into the forwards and a far more committed response whenever possession is lost.
A more realistic immediate objective may be establishing another top-four campaign and closing the distance to the best two sides. If United achieve that quickly, the outright market will adjust and the discussion can be revisited.
Football can turn quickly. Carrick demonstrated that after taking over last January. The difference now is that he must create the turnaround while carrying the expectations he generated.
United remain the competition's record holders with 13 titles, all won during Ferguson's reign. The first arrived in 1992/93, ending a 26-year wait for an English championship.
The last came two decades later. Van Persie spearheaded the 2012/13 winners, Ferguson retired in May and the trophy has not returned since.
Mourinho and Solskjær both delivered second place during the years that followed. Neither season became a launchpad for another dynasty.
Carrick played in five of those championship teams. His task as manager is not to trade on that history, but to construct a side capable of adding to it.
The title winner is one of several possible season and match markets. Depending on availability, options may include:
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