The derby is the whole week
Everything United did this week pointed at one match, and by Sunday evening that match was all that mattered. The 199th Manchester derby at Old Trafford, kick-off 17:30 (3) (7). Enzo Maresca's City arrived unbeaten and chasing the top of the table (2) (19). United arrived 13th, four points from three games, with one win to their name (19).
Carrick made one change to the side that started the last league game. Rashford came in. Sesko dropped to the bench. Luke Shaw was missing (4) (6). A squad that has spent a month looking for a shape got its most reliable wide runner back and lost its most senior left-back in the same afternoon.
Rashford starting ahead of Sesko is the clearest read on Carrick's thinking. Against City he wanted legs in behind, not a target man to hold the ball up.
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Andrey Santos is the summer's unfinished business
Four games in, £50m of midfielder has not started one of them since Hull. Andrey Santos is on the bench again for the derby, with Carlos Baleba injured and the spot still not his (16). That is the number that should worry people inside the club more than the league position.
You do not spend that money on a squad filler. Either Carrick does not trust him in a two, or United bought a player who does not fit the shape they actually play. Both are recruitment problems, and neither gets fixed by patience alone (22).
The pressure dial is real, and the players say so
Diogo Dalot put it plainly. Playing for this club "can be your worst nightmare if things are not going well" (31). He was speaking before his 250th appearance for United (fan posts), and he is one of the senior voices in that dressing room.
Then there is the ticketing row. Fans protested outside Old Trafford before kick-off, organised by The 1958, with banners aimed at the ownership over the season ticket situation and the 685 ticket bans that came with it (6) (13). One banner read: "The way you treat us is a disgrace" (6).
Supporters are not turning on Carrick yet. They are turning on Ineos, and the club still has not answered them.
What to watch
Fulham away on Sunday, 20 September at 17:30 is the next one. That is the fixture that tells you what the derby actually was.
Two things to track before then. Whether Rashford keeps the shirt after getting his start, and whether Santos is still sitting on that bench at Craven Cottage. If he is, the question about why United paid £50m for him stops being a quiet one (16).
Fan-reaktioner
The matchday thread filled up fast with the XI: Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Dorgu; Tielemans, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford; Cunha (fan posts). One change from the last league outing, and the debate in the replies was almost entirely about Shaw's absence.
Elsewhere, hundreds were at the protest outside Old Trafford, per Laurie Whitwell, and the thread on it ran longer than most match threads (fan posts). Dalot's 250th got its own post too, with the commemorative presentation shared around (fan posts).
