That had been coming

Most Manchester United fans would acknowledge last night's defeat had been coming.

The fluidity of the first few games under Michael Carrick was missing at West Ham, when they nearly lost, and didn't get picked up against Everton or Crystal Palace, despite the victories achieved in those matches.

There are a couple of basic realities around Manchester United that should not be forgotten.

Given the Premier League as a whole seems to be a bit of a grind, it is probably unrealistic to expect them to deliver free-flowing football.

There must also be an acceptance that Carrick's squad is not deep and given Matthijs de Ligt, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui and Patrick Dorgu were all injured by the end of last night's game and Casemiro and Luke Shaw had been substituted as they played their second match in four days, there was not enough cover to cope.

However, after a defeat, more scrutiny will be placed on Carrick's in-game decisions; the timing of his changes, his tactical flexibility.

This is not a bad thing. He needs positive answers to show he can do the job on a full-time basis.

As Carrick said, a defeat, against 10 men, hurts. But it need not be any more than that. The meeting with Aston Villa on 15 March may offer a true picture of what kind of Manchester United Michael Carrick is capable of creating.