After their 1-1 draw to Leeds this weekend, Manchester United have officially endured their worst ever start to a Premier League season. They’ve won just 1 of their 7 opening matches, hovering dangerously in the bottom half of the table on 7 points.
Michael Carrick can’t possibly be to blame despite that being how these narratives often go, but he hasn’t helped his team to kick on from their incredible form of January to June.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe same can be said of star man Bruno Fernandes, who broke the single-season assist record (21 assists) last campaign.
This season, the Portuguese playmaker has been underwhelming to say the least. On paper, Bruno’s start to the season looks okay. He’s scored 3 goals with 1 assist inside those 7 matches, and he’s still producing a high output when it comes to things like line-breaking passes, accurate long passes, and shots.
Embed from Getty ImagesUnfortunately, stats like these only tell one side of the story. All four of those goal contributions came in the second match against Ipswich Town. He hasn’t contributed to a goal in the five matches since.
In that time, he’s failed to live up to the standard he set last campaign. He’s creating fewer chances, running less, making fewer defensive contributions, and his discipline’s gotten worse.
Embed from Getty ImagesEven in his heatmaps, you can see the disparity. Last season, he was everywhere for United, captaining the front of the plane. This season, he’s been only a passenger.
Across the board, this isn’t what United fans would like to see.
Bruno is at his best when he’s able to keep his head, and focus on the game in front of him. But too often this season, we’ve seen the worst side of him. The one where he’s diving into rash tackles. Where he’s remonstrating with the referee or his teammates. The one where he has his head down rather than up.
As Michael Carrick fiddles around with his team to find the best balance in midfield, Bruno’s form might only continue to falter.
Much of United’s midfield balance last campaign came through the defensive presence of Casemiro.
Embed from Getty ImagesMainoo’s upped his defensive numbers and prowess in 2026-27, but is far too important in attacking phases to truly sit in and hold the midfield down. They need Carlos Baleba or Andrey Santos alongside him to provide that extra defensive cover.
Embed from Getty ImagesThat then pushes Youri Tielemans forward into a ’10’ role so that you can still use his quality in possession. In turn, that means Bruno Fernandes shifts out of position. In the Champions League match against Atletico Madrid, he moved out to the right. In the match against Leeds, he rotated with Bryan Mbeumo between a role as a ‘false 9’ and as an inside left attacker.
As if all that chopping and changing isn’t enough, the only way to make this work is in pushing United’s best wingers to the bench.
Against both Atletico and Leeds, the man to make that sacrifice was Matheus Cunha.
Kobbie Mainoo aside, if anyone had been performing well in a United shirt, it was Matheus Cunha.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Brazilian had been the livewire in both of United’s previous fixtures, scoring against Fulham, and assisting Mbeumo’s strike against Spurs. With all that he can offer in trickery and wizardry in possession of the ball, he rarely has a queit game.
Embed from Getty ImagesSo for him to be the sacrifice to accommodate a struggling Bruno Fernandes seemed puzzling.
But as I’m sure any manager might feel in this situation, Bruno Fernandes is practically un-droppable. How do you drop the man that contributed to 30 goals in 35 matches last season?
How can you be confident enough to say that even in his worst game, he can’t still contribute something special?
Embed from Getty ImagesMichael Carrick has likely asked himself that same question. He doesn’t even like to give Bruno Fernandes some time to rest in the dying moments of matches. Dropping him outright almost seems out of the question.
But it might finally be time to give Bruno Fernandes a break.
Embed from Getty ImagesMatheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo have both been playing well enough to hold down the first two slots in the attack. If it’s going to be some strange lopsided shape, both are more versatile in the types of roles they can fulfill.
Then you have Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo and hopefully Patrick Dorgu too. There’s enough options to drop both Youri Tielemans and Bruno Fernandes, and still operate with a well-functioning attack full of hunger and more running power (like what Cunha, Mbeumo and Dorgu can provide).
Embed from Getty ImagesNo one should get a free pass, not even the captain of the team who has been at the heart of everything good for the Red Devils over the past decade.
Going into next weekend, Michael Carrick has some big questions to answer. One of the biggest of all will be in how he’s able to get the best out of Bruno Fernandes, or whether it’s going to be another misfire.
Bournemouth are up next, and Michael Carrick will need to get his team selection spot on to achieve just his second win of the season.
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