United View: Reds forced to settle for a point

While United’s trip to Elland Road went better than many expected, it wasn’t quite the emphatic response Michael Carrick would have been hoping for after a tumultuous week. 

All eyes were on the Reds following Lisandro Martinez’s scathing comments in midweek, and while they remain unbeaten at Leeds’ home ground since 2002, their flat second half performance left a lot to be desired. 

Things were looking promising for United at the break, with Bryan Mbeumo putting his struggles in front of goal behind him to open the scoring on 35 minutes. 

After missing a guilt-edged chance just minutes before, the Cameroonian responded expertly to turn in Youri Tielemans’ inch-perfect cross and silence the rampant home crowd. 

Carrick’s side looked unrecognisable compared to recent weeks, showing energy and fight from the off. 

This was largely down to the inclusion of summer signing Carlos Baleba, who came in for his first Premier League start for the club. 

Baleba showed just what United have been missing so far this campaign, and provided some much-needed balance in the middle of the park. 

Fellow new signing Andrey Santos also made his first league start since the opening day defeat to Hull City, adding further bite to the midfield. 

The Brazilian has had limited opportunities this season, which has raised eyebrows considering his hefty price tag, but for me, he has been unfairly criticised. 

Though £50m is an eyewatering amount of money for someone who will likely act as a back-up, I have been relatively impressed with his cameos so far this season.  

Elsewhere, Tielemans looked far more at home than he has done of late, playing in a slightly more advanced role, even acting as a false nine on occasions. 

This was certainly an out-of-the-box move from Carrick, as was the decision to set up with a back three, which brought up bad memories from the Ruben Amorim days.  

To his credit though, these tweaks seemed to take Leeds by surprise, and very much worked in United’s favour. 

But just six minutes into the second half, all their hard work was undone, with the home side handed a gift of an equaliser. 

Yet more poor set piece defending allowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin to slide home the leveller, and shift the momentum in an instant.  

This compounded the Reds’ misery, who were forced into a half-time change minutes prior, with Noussair Mazraoui coming on to replace the injured Martinez. 

The Argentine kept his place in the starting 11, and showed no signs of being affected by any outside noise with an impressive first half display.  

United became more disjointed following his withdrawal, which was no surprise considering so many defenders were already playing out of position.  

Mazraoui - a full back - was forced to deputise at centre half, while Leny Yoro - a centre half - was shifted to right back and Diogo Dalot - a right back - found himself out on the left. 

While the manager has control over where each player plays, the lack of personnel he currently has at his disposal only reinforces the idea that he was let down in the summer transfer window. 

Another thing Carrick has control over, though, is substitutions, and for me, he has shown a continuous lack of desire to make proactive changes. 

As mentioned, the first sub was enforced, and the introductions of Mason Mount and Matheus Cunha came far too late in my opinion. 

This has to change going forward, or he may well be the latest United manager to pay the price for his stubbornness. 

The Reds will be looking for a change of fortunes in midweek, as they travel to Como in the Champions League, which, at the time of writing, has not yet been played.