Manchester United head into the first international break of the 2026/27 campaign with just five points from their opening five Premier League fixtures.
It has been a difficult start to the Premier League season for Manchester United, with the club sitting 12th in the table.
Michael Carrick's side have only won once, a 5-2 victory over Ipswich Town, but dropped points against Hull City, Everton, Manchester City and Fulham.
After being the in-form team during the second half of last term, the Reds have faltered and need to improve once action returns next month.
The international break does give United some time to evaluate their situation and find solutions to get back to winning ways.
Carrick told Rashford shouldn't be at United
United's defensive issues were obvious before the season started and it is not surprising that the Reds have conceded in every Premier League fixture so far.
But the attack at Old Trafford was working well last term, and that has not exactly been the case so far this season. The experiment of Matheus Cunha as a false nine hasn't worked, and the Reds aren't as free-flowing in the final third as they were at times last season.
Marcus Rashford has returned to the club and started on the left-wing in United's last four Premier League games. The forward has looked tidy on the ball but is lacking the threat inside the box that United fans were used to seeing from him in his earlier years.
The 28-year-old has been criticised this week by former Premier League boss Sam Allardyce, who believes that Rashford shouldn't be at the club after his loan moves to Aston Villa and Barcelona.
“Marcus Rashford shouldn’t be there,” Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
“I don’t know what [United] got offered but clearly they thought it wasn’t enough and they’d get more.
“If he did Barcelona and they didn’t sign him after a full season there, they said he did alright, and signing [Anthony] Gordon from Newcastle at a much bigger fee than United wanted for Marcus Rashford, I think tells you a story.”
Carrick needs to fix the positional headache
Rashford's return to the club was always going to be awkward if he didn't hit the ground running. The fact that United as a team have not been performing makes it even worse.
But United's poor form is not down to Rashford, and he has been one of United's brighter players in most of the games so far. He is still lacking confidence when entering the final third, however.
The biggest issue has been the use of Rashford and Cunha in the attack at the same time. They should be competing for a position on the left, rather than having both in the frontline.
Carrick was likely planning for that to be the case until Amad's injury ahead of the season-opener, but his use of Cunha upfront was still not the right approach.
Rashford will continue to get minutes under Carrick, who clearly rates him highly, but he will only be able to turn opinions by producing the goods in the final third.
