Gary Neville has been watching Manchester United since he was five years old, and he has seen some grim afternoons in that time. He was in the team beaten 3-1 at home by Fulham in 2003. He has commentated on the 7-0 at Anfield and on two 6-1 home defeats. On Sunday at Craven Cottage, after Lisandro Martinez turned the ball into his own net just past the hour, he reached for the top of his scale anyway.
"That's the worst 15 minutes I've ever seen," he said. "Absolutely pathetic. I've never seen such a lack of effort. What must Michael Carrick be thinking?"
Cunha's late strike papers over a bad afternoon
United did get something out of it. Matheus Cunha's deflected shot in the 89th minute made it 1-1 and denied Fulham their first league win of the season. It was also the only time in 90 minutes that United looked like a side with any urgency about them, which is roughly the point Neville was making.
Cunha did not exactly back him up afterwards, but he did not argue either. "At the beginning of the second half they put in more energy than us," the Brazilian told Sky Sports. "We cannot accept this." That will sting more than anything a pundit says, because it comes from inside the dressing room and it lands on a question that has followed United since pre-season, when Youri Tielemans said the club were not prioritising running.
Carrick points to the finish, not the middle
Carrick sees it differently, and his evidence is the last ten minutes rather than the fifteen Neville picked out. "The way we finished the game, actually, it didn't look like that. We finished the game really strong actually, and kept pushing. I don't think that's an issue, no."
He had a harder time explaining the reception to his substitutions. United supporters booed when Kobbie Mainoo was taken off with 11 minutes left, three days after chanting their disgust at the home defeat by Brighton, a side they had not lost to in more than 50 years before giving away a two-goal lead against them in midweek. Carrick said he had spoken to Mainoo and the player was fine, and insisted he takes no offence when a crowd reacts that way. "The supporters were unbelievable today, I have to say, all the way through."
Five points from five, and a busy week ahead
The arithmetic is unforgiving. Five points from five games leaves United 12th, ten points behind Manchester City, who also beat them in the derby this month with ten men for most of it. Fulham started Sunday bottom of the table and have swapped places with Tottenham. Carlos Baleba, a £70m summer signing, still has not made his debut. Matthijs de Ligt did not get onto the pitch at all despite being in the squad. Benjamin Sesko missed the game after his shin problem flared up again, the same one that cost him more than three months last season, and Carrick said the extent of it is not yet known.
None of that happens in a vacuum. The club's touting crackdown has already irritated a large part of the fanbase over ticketing, full-year financial results to 30 June land on Wednesday with the current debt position attached, and the new stadium plan, costed north of £2bn, is still waiting on a planning submission earmarked for late 2027 or early 2028. Carrick took United back into the Champions League last season and is now managing a club where the mood does not match the finish.
"It's a long season and you're going to have spells through a season," he said. "I'm not playing it down. We wanted more points. But deflation is certainly not what we have within the club."
Match facts: Fulham 1-1 Manchester United, Craven Cottage, Sunday 20 September 2026. Lisandro Martinez own goal, Matheus Cunha 89th minute. United 12th on five points from five games, ten behind leaders Manchester City. Fulham out of the bottom place, swapping with Tottenham.
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