Michael Carrick: Manchester United 'should've Won' At Fulham — What Are Best, Worst Scenarios For Man Utd?

Michael Carrick's reaction after Manchester United's latest setback may well be composed of bewilderment alone, as the Red Devils drew 1-1 to Fulham at Craven Cottage on a strange goal for each team.

Carrick implored people not to get carried way with what he called "the first chapter" of our season and disagreed with a reporter branding his side as "passive" early in the second half.

The Red Devils trailed until the 89th minute thanks to an unfortunate own goal from Lisandro Martinez, but found a point when Matheus Cunha's wildly-deflected shot beat Bernd Leno.

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That's three matches without a win for Man United across all competitions, a 1-0 loss in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford followed by a blown two-goal lead in a League Cup exit at home to Brighton and now this.

Somehow, an incredibly forgiving run of fixtures to start the season has Carrick's men sitting in 12th place with a win, two draws, and two losses.

The season-opening run of Hull, Ipswich, Everton, Man City, and Fulham was supposed to go much better than this.

How did Carrick see this one ahead of three weeks without a game?

Michael Carrick reaction to Fulham 1-1 Manchester United

Thoughts on the game? "I thought we should've won the game. We created enough to win the game. The goal we did concede is one of them goals. The boys could've thought it's one of those days but I really liked our reaction. It would've been easy for that game to go the other way and we nearly won it at the end. The way we finished is the positive we take."

What's stopping you from getting to the final ball? "Probably their goalkeeper really. He's probably made three top, top saves and arguably Man of the Match. It shows you how much we worked him and hit the post twice. We want to win the game obviously. There's things to take from it for sure."

You were passive in the early second half. Why? "[Not having control] doesn't mean you're passive. Football's a difficult game. We controlled a lot of the first half. We had a spell in the game — it's the Premier League — where it doesn't go your way. The goal was arguably come about with a foul on Matheus and two deflections go their way. To expect total dominance the whole game, I don't think anyone gets that."

"I don't think we need to get carried away. We can take a lot from today and we need to learn a lot from the first chapter of the season. I thought there were good signs today and the way we finished very strongly."

What do the next three weeks look like for you? "There's only so much you can do. The players we have, we'll train, work with them, and improve them as much as we can."

Manchester United are in a funk — is it serious?

Every team can falter in a given season. Multiple times, really.

And Manchester United do have a lot of positive stats in their favor, so is Michael Carrick correct? Do critics need to calm down?

Maybe a little, but this Man United team was handed a fixture list that should've had them top five going into the international break, so something is not working correctly.

How many times have we looked at a good team making things happen for themselves when they aren't at their best and said, "That's the kind of thing that champions do?"

It happens all the time, and it's usually not describing a deflected hit-and-hope to draw at Fulham and stop your record from going to 1-1-3, instead going to 1-2-2.

This week, our Joe Prince-Wright discussed some ways United can improve in a hurry, including more calm in the final third, being more aggressive in defense, and finding the right balance in midfield.

Two players who did not feature Sunday could help with that. Benjamin Sesko was unavailable, althought Carrick has mostly refused to start the big Slovenian, and Carlos Baleba was only fit for the bench. Both should be fit to start in three weeks, but will Carrick go there?

Carrick's demeanor and methods helped United turn around their season last year but he seems so rigid in his personnel choices for his 4-2-3-1 and hesitant to adjust things in game. It's like Ruben Amorim without the resume, and we know how that turned out.

What are the worst and best case scenarios for this Man United?

Spurs and Chelsea are on the PL docket along with Leeds and Bournemouth before Halloween, with Champions League trips to Atletico Madrid and Como also in the mix. The league schedule doesn't look open for business until a December run of Newcastle, Coventry City, and Crystal Palace, as the soft start to this season had to rear its head later on the fixture list.

These next three weeks are a big test for Carrick's team. Let's see what he's learned and how he applies it to the Red Devils, because their season goals are already slipping down the table.

Best case: Let's begin with how Manchester United could quickly put their season back on track. Bruno Fernandes is slumping right now, but it's safe to say he will come good. Sesko will be back and he could be the guy to feast on Fernandes' playmaking. When goals come, things will also open up for Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. Amad Diallo will also return soon.

Baleba bringing his mayhem to the midfield will come soon, and their best center back — Matthijs De Ligt — should also return. Baleba will put Youri Tielemans in more comfortable playmaking positions as well. With Lammens playing well and more competitions for the front four places, United will have lots of playing time for everyone and could slide back into a top four spot.

Worst case: Carrick's in love with the publicity he earned saying mostly Sir Alex things last season and fixing things by attitude, a normal formation, and "the United way." We saw that same formula go sour for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a while, too, didn't we?

Baleba won't necessarily fix anything, too, if he looks like he did last season at Brighton as opposed to the prior campaign where he resembled a younger, more raw N'Golo Kante. If Baleba doesn't work that Mainoo and Tielemans have to get you to January with tons of matches along the way. If De Ligt doesn't return, the center back corps could continue to resemble a group of "second-best" center backs in front of Lammens. And could Fernandes reach his wits end? Midtable for the holidays is a real possibility.