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Carrick, INEOS, defence... what is behind Man Utd's latest problems?

Pressure is mounting on Manchester United manager Michael Carrick following a 3-2 Carabao Cup third-round loss to Brighton, marking their elimination at this exact phase for the second consecutive year. United stormed into a 2-0 lead within ten minutes courtesy of a second goal from Mason Mount, but they failed to manage another attempt on target until minute 76 and ended up suffering their first defeat from a two-goal advantage at Old Trafford in half a century, having won 143 of the prior 145 fixtures from that position.

Boos rang out from the home crowd as the loss compounded a difficult period, with the club also equaling its worst start across four games of a Premier League campaign. 6 percent win rate he generated during his 17-game interim stint last term.

Physical outputs have emerged as a significant concern, prompting criticism from Jamie Redknapp regarding the squad's conditioning. 1 kilometres and rank near the bottom for high-intensity movement, placing 18th for total sprints with 379 and 19th with 1,364 high-speed runs, while occupying matching positions for both metrics when measured per kilometre.

Despite Carrick rotating nine players following the Manchester derby, their struggles persisted even though Brighton implemented six changes of their own, featuring four debut starters.