Carrick admits United must be 'more streetwise' after 10-man Spurs snatch Old Trafford equaliser

Manchester United’s miserable start to the Premier League season deepened on Saturday when Dominic Solanke headed a stoppage-time equaliser for 10-man Tottenham at Old Trafford, leaving Michael Carrick’s side with six points from their opening six games — the club’s worst league return in 40 years.

Bryan Mbeumo had given United the lead, and Spurs had been reduced to 10 men, yet the hosts were unable to hold on, extending a troubling pattern. United have now failed to see out games against Manchester City and Tottenham at home after the opposition went down to 10 men, and the same fate befell them at Newcastle last season under Carrick.

“I’m not happy with the amount of points that we have so far,” Carrick said after the final whistle, with United supporters booing the team off. “I’m not hiding, there’s no hiding from that. We need to put things in a positive direction quite quickly, that’s pretty plain.”

Carrick identified three specific areas requiring improvement: taking the ball and controlling the game when ahead, looking after possession in the opposition half to pin teams back, and defending set-piece moments more robustly. His shorthand for all three was a demand that his players become more “stubborn and streetwise” in closing out matches.

“Whether that’s taking the ball, whether that’s controlling the game a little bit more, looking after the ball better in their half and around their box and pinning them in a little bit, or whether that’s defending moments better — certainly, we need to improve that,” he said.

Despite the pressure building, Carrick was keen to stress his belief in the squad. “It doesn’t change my belief or the confidence in the players. We’re a really good team and capable of being a really good team, but we’ve obviously got to start getting more points on the board, that’s for sure.”

The result means United have now dropped points in consecutive home league games against sides who finished the match with 10 men, a statistic that will sharpen scrutiny on Carrick’s game management as the season progresses.