Como 4-1 Manchester United: Carrick's winless run reaches seven as old balance goes missing

Manchester United's Champions League campaign took another heavy blow on Wednesday night, beaten 4-1 at Como as Michael Carrick's side conceded inside two minutes for the second major European match in a row. Nico Paz scored after 2 minutes and again on 57, Anastasios Douvikas struck on 49 and Jacobo Ramon added a fourth on 76. Joshua Zirkzee's 90th-minute goal was no more than a footnote. The result leaves United on three points from three league-phase games and extends their winless run to seven matches across all competitions.

That is the story, and it is not a one-off embarrassment. It is the seventh game without a win, and it arrives with Carrick's future under intense scrutiny. The gap between the manager who took over after Ruben Amorim's departure in January and guided United to Champions League qualification, and the side that has now won just two of its opening nine matches this season, is the question the coming weeks must answer.

On the raw figures, United had more shots: 13 to Como's 11. They had more corners, 4 to 1. Yet Como had 55 per cent of the ball, 8 shots on target to United's 4, and 4 big chances to United's 1. Expected goals read Como 2.04, United 1.05. The chance volume that mattered belonged to the home side, and the scoreline reflected it.

Reports went further than the shot count. United were described as static in midfield, allowing Como players to run off them and losing markers, a display devoid of shape, grit and skill. That is the difference between a team that accumulates shots and a team that controls a match. United's 13 attempts did not translate into sustained pressure; Como's 8 on target did.

Carrick had called Sunday's draw at Leeds a "fresh start", after Lisandro Martinez gave interviews last week highlighting the club's shortcomings. Eight days earlier, United had fallen behind inside two minutes at Atletico Madrid. They did the same here. Whatever the reset was meant to look like, it did not survive the opening exchanges in Italy.

The comparison with last season is stark. Under Carrick in 2025/2026, United took 2.29 points per game in the Premier League across 17 matches — 12 wins, 3 draws, 2 defeats. This season, over seven league games, that figure is 1.0, from 1 win, 4 draws and 2 losses. The current sample is small, and it should be treated as such; seven league matches is not a trend, and neither is nine in all competitions. But the direction is consistent, and the European results have been worse than the domestic ones.

Squad turnover is part of the picture. Since the summer, United have added Carlos Baleba, Cristian Orozco, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos, while Casemiro, Rasmus Hojlund, Toby Collyer, Louis Jackson, Tyler Fredricson and Radek Vitek have departed. That is a significant reshaping of a midfield and forward line, and it is reasonable to ask how much of the shapelessness out of possession is a coaching problem and how much is a group still learning each other. The honest answer is that the next matches will tell us. What the evidence does not support is the idea that this is simply bad luck, or that the performance at Como was an aberration.

United now have three points from three Champions League league-phase games, while Como moved to six. The pressure on Carrick is real and growing, and the fixtures will not wait. The question is not whether the 4-1 was embarrassing — it plainly was — but whether the form that delivered Champions League qualification can be recovered this season, or whether the side that qualified has already been lost to turnover, injury and a loss of shape that no amount of possession can hide.

Carrick has earned patience with what he achieved last season. He has not earned immunity from what is happening now. Seven games without a win is the number that matters, and it is the number that will decide how long the conversation stays about the team rather than the manager.