Carrick’s Man United unbeaten run ends at Newcastle
Talk of the Devils: The Athletic FC's Manchester United show
The Athletic
4.6 • 771 Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 49 minutes
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Summary
The honeymoon is over... what about the future of the relationship? Michael Carrick's unbeaten run as Manchester United manager, which has lit a fire under the pursuit of Champions League football this season, is over.
In truth, it was a poor performance; the team had laboured even during a largely uneventful opening forty minutes. Of course, the level of incident changed dramatically at the end of the first half but, going in level at the break with Newcastle reduced to ten men, a victory seemed the more likely outcome.
We break down the reasons why that didn't happen, what it means for the rest of the season, and the perception of squad depth... or lack of it. As always, we're trying our best to maintain perspective in the face of another frustrating midweek result.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic F.C. |
| 0:18.8 | This is Talk to Devils, the Athletic Show, dedicated to Manchester United. |
| 0:23.1 | Coming up today, United suffer their first defeat under Michael Carrick. |
| 0:27.0 | We'll look at why they struggled against 10 men again. |
| 0:30.4 | And we'll also assess their position in the fight for the Champions League places after the first setback of Carrick's reign. |
| 0:38.7 | Right, we've got Andy here, we've got Critch here and Carl as well, who's still up in Newcastle. Carl, I'll start with you because |
| 0:42.8 | you were there last night. How much of a concern is that result in the context of everything? |
| 0:48.8 | I think it's a game and a result that's been coming in that United have been creaky in two or three of their |
| 0:56.3 | performances. I think they'll a little bit, I think they'll creak against West Ham, I think they'll |
| 0:59.9 | creaky against Everton in the first half, I think they were creaking in the first half against |
| 1:03.4 | Crystal Palace and the reasons for that creakiness manifested again against Newcastle and |
| 1:09.7 | that's probably why United lost. They were |
| 1:13.0 | pretty much non-existent down the left-hand side, struggled to move the ball quickly in certain areas |
| 1:18.4 | and just sort of lacked a bit of umph in the attacking third and against a Newcastle team that was |
| 1:25.3 | definitely up for it and we know they're really really physical they eventually come and done yeah i mean watching it andy um it did feel like |
| 1:33.3 | there were similarities for some of the performances in recent weeks and i guess that's the concern |
| 1:38.2 | isn't it that it's not just one game where there's been a step backwards it feels like |
| 1:42.5 | despite winning the games the level that they showed in those first couple of matches under carry they've not quite been a step backwards. It feels like despite winning the games, |
| 1:47.4 | the level that they showed in those first couple of matches under carry, |
| 1:51.3 | they've not quite been able to get that same sort of quality to their performances. |
| 1:54.0 | No, I've seen it, said that this has been coming, |
| 1:55.6 | and I think that is a fair comment. The performance against West Ham in the first half, |
... |
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