Don't panic! Why Man Utd and Carrick get a pass after flat Hull defeat

Michael Carrick saw his Manchester United side beaten by promoted Hull City on the opening day of the new Premier League season; Dan Khan tells us why it's not time to panic at Old Trafford yet; Man Utd host Ipswich, live on Sky on Sunday; kick off at 4.30pm

I was at the game on Saturday and it was clear early on in the game that Manchester United were not at the races against Hull City.

Words will be bandied towards Michael Carrick's side this week until their home game against Ipswich on Sunday; for example, a lack of intensity, aggression and intent on display.

But when I left Hull, I just felt it was a bit more nuanced than that.

It was a bad performance, for sure. Carrick's side didn't perform, and only he will truly know why, but from the off it was quite clear some of his main players are not quite up to match sharpness compared to where they will be in a few weeks.

Six of Carrick's first-team players did have a full pre-season. But Carrick also had a new midfield duo playing together in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.

Off the bench, he had players nowhere near full fitness in Benjamin Sesko (has not played a minute of pre-season), as well as Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford, who have had limited minutes since returning from England duty in the summer.

Hull also deserve enormous credit for being a well-drilled outfit for their first Premier League game in nine years while also having a squad who have experienced a full pre-season to prepare for their opener.

Also, allow me a moment to myth-bust something I have seen across social media over the last few days since the defeat.

'Four defeats out of five under Michael Carrick have come against sides who have played a back five'

Two of them were pre-season games, including United's first of the summer against Wrexham and their last against Ruben Amorim's AC Milan. If anyone is using these as barometers of a side struggling against a formation, it is simply not right.

Hull was bad. Leeds at Old Trafford last season was also bad. These two performances share a lot of similarities but I would argue the most common denominator is that I left both games thinking they were seriously lacking from a physical point of view and that will be Carrick's most pressing thought.

I am more than willing, and Carrick has more than deserved, somewhat of a pass for the Hull result, and I would be extremely surprised if United were not considerably improved against Ipswich Town on Sunday.

The midfield was Manchester United's priority going into the season and they have gone some way to addressing it by spending over £150m in reinforcements, with Carlos Baleba the latest addition to their ranks.