LONDON -- A deeper crisis barely averted by an avalanche of mediocre shots, Manchester United head into the autumn in much the same position they tend to find themselves at this time of year. Questions over the suitability of the manager bubble away as ownership draw the ire of supporters and too many players offer a reminder that they can always dip below a low bar. Had Matheus Cunha's tame effort, the 26th shot on the Fulham goal, not taken a fortunate deflection off David Affengruber, then there was no question that the hosts would hold on for a valuable win in what seems destined to be a battle against the drop.
Alvaro Arbeloa's side had looked some way from Premier League standards in their first four games of the season; today they looked the better team against a supposedly Champions League calibre opponent. The ingenuity, verve and effort all came from those in Fulham colors. A desperate late heave does not change the harsh reality United face.
Nor will it do more than ensure that the volume is not turned up on the noise that will surely surround Old Trafford over the next three weeks of the international break. Such seems to be the way of things at this stage of every United season. The sort of quiet competence that got Carrick the permanent job in the first place looks ever more like the exception rather than the rule.
Indeed, Carrick and his coaching staff could probably do worse over the coming days than to comb through the spring files in pursuit of the missing ingredients from that run up the table. It is not like the answers would elude him for long. What United had in the second half of last season was an extremely competent anchoring midfield of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes, comfortably the best attacker in the league.
At least one of those is not coming back. Well, that is a real worry. Of course Fernandes is not remotely the reason why United so very nearly lost at Craven Cottage.
Indeed, he was arguably the most threatening of the front four, creating four chances and taking three shots, a first-time flick against the post one of the vanishingly rare occasions the visitors actually took a good shot. Dropping deep to aid a faltering build-up, he was a key ball progression engine for United while also functioning as the hub in the attacking third, always delivering those classically Fernandes high-risk, high-reward passes into the box. By the final whistle, he had 0.28 expected goals, 0.17 expected assists, combined output that only attacking midfielders with the most remarkable standards would sniff at.
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