Four Premier League matches into a season is far too early for any manager to be seriously contemplating his future.
However, at Manchester United, patience has become an increasingly scarce commodity, and Michael Carrick is already discovering that the goodwill accumulated last season will not last indefinitely.
Four points from their opening four league games equals their worst start to a Premier League campaign.
In mitigation, Carrick can point out that Erling Haaland’s winner against them in the Manchester derby should not have stood, something Pro Ref subsequently acknowledged. Yet that should not disguise how poor United were against a side that played with ten men for most of the game.
United had plenty of time to exploit their numerical advantage but rarely looked capable of doing so. Carrick himself admitted afterwards that his side had failed to get to grips with the situation.
That is potentially more damaging for the manager than the result itself.
Carrick earned the permanent job after transforming United following Ruben Amorim’s departure last season. The improvement was sufficiently dramatic to persuade the hierarchy that another expensive search for a manager was unnecessary.
But arguably the hard part now starts – proving that the improvement was sustainable rather than simply the familiar bounce produced by a change of manager.
Despite spending around £150 million in the transfer market during the summer, United’s squad remains hugely unbalanced. There is considerable attacking talent, but obvious weaknesses remain elsewhere, while Carrick does not have the same quality of cover in several positions. That is particularly significant now that Champions League football has returned. Last season United could concentrate largely on domestic competition; this time Carrick must manage the additional matches, travel and rotation that come with playing in Europe.
There have been glimpses of what Carrick wants. They came from behind to thrash Ipswich at Old Trafford, and were too strong for Azerbaijan side Sabah in the Champions League.
But already any talk that United could be among the title challengers this season seems misplaced and unrealistic.
United travel to Fulham on Sunday before facing Tottenham after the international break. Gary Neville has already described the Fulham fixture as a “real pressure game“.
None of this means Carrick should be under immediate threat.
It does mean the honeymoon is over is well and truly over.
