Michael Carrick is caught between a club not running well enough and stars not running hard enough – now he must find answers in Man United’s three-week reset, writes CHRIS WHEELER

The sun hovered over the top of the Riverside Stand for half an hour after kick-off on its descent towards the Thames on Sunday, blinding those of us sat in the charming old Johnny Haynes Stand at Craven Cottage.

It felt like August again, and how Michael Carrick must wish that were true. How he would like to turn back the clock and replay Manchester United’s games against Hull City, Everton, Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion.

There was a lot he would have changed about this game too. United were behind until the 89th minute and it needed a heavy deflection on Matheus Cunha’s shot to finally beat Bernd Leno and avert a third defeat in a week.

So they were spared a full-blown crisis going into a three-week international break but no one is kidding themselves that it has been a good start to the season. Five points from five Premier League games – United’s joint worst at this stage – and already out of the Carabao Cup.

Afterwards, Carrick was asked if he understands why the excitement and expectation going into this season is evaporating fast.

‘It’s still a big season ahead, to be fair,’ he countered. ‘It’s a long season, and you’re going to have spells. That’s part of the journey. It’s not a sprint, you know. It’s a long effort.

‘Of course, I’m not playing it down. We wanted more points. So I’m not saying everything’s great. I understand the frustration, of course I do, because we wanted to be better.

‘But deflation is certainly not what we have within the club. The players didn’t have that on the pitch today, and that’s what will carry us through the season without doubt.’

Carrick will continue to look for positives. That’s part of his job. 

He has also refused numerous invitations to criticise the club’s transfer policy this summer, and that’s completely understandable too.

How can he? After the opening six games in which the Midas touch has largely deserted him, taking aim at his employers going into a long international break would be tantamount to professional suicide. His predecessor Ruben Amorim called out director of football Jason Wilcox and was toast by morning.

But while United indulged Amorim and his peculiar system, it is becoming increasingly clear that they have sold Carrick down the river – the Humber, the Mersey and now the Thames – by not giving him the tools to do the job.

While the club were busy overhauling the midfield this summer – and not with their first-choice targets either – they were crying out for cover for Luke Shaw at left back and Benjamin Sesko in attack. Neither was forthcoming.

Both decisions have bitten them in the backside over the opening weeks of the season. The window had hardly closed when Shaw went down with injury, forcing Carrick to use makeshift replacements. Shaw returned at Craven Cottage after a three-game absence and struggled against the pace of Oscar Bobb and Joshua King.

Sesko, meanwhile, missed the entire pre-season due to an existing shin injury. 

After two starts and four appearances as a substitute, he appears to have suffered a relapse after Carrick confirmed that the Slovenian’s absence on Sunday was due to the same issue.

‘He was in pain in his shin, yeah, he definitely wasn’t ready for today,’ said the United boss before once again defending the club for not having signed a replacement.

‘Just because an injury setback in certain positions, you can’t sign every position for cover,’ he argued.

True, but it’s not like United weren’t warned. With Amad Diallo also unavailable through injury, Carrick hasn’t been able to take Bryan Mbeumo off the right wing and play him through the middle, so Cunha has been used as a false nine.

That hasn’t worked and it’s no coincidence that the Brazilian’s two goals this season against Sabah and Fulham have come when he has reverted to the left flank where he is more comfortable, with Sesko or Joshua Zirkzee at centre forward.

Cunha joined Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville in criticising United’s lack of effort at Craven Cottage on Sunday in the wake of some less-than-flattering running stats that emerged at the end of last week. The very least Manchester United players should do is run, for goodness sake.

Once again, Carrick was on the defensive. Does he worry about it?

‘No, I don’t particularly really. The way we finished the game, it didn’t look like that to me. So I don’t think that’s an issue, no.’

Carrick finds himself sandwiched between a club that isn’t operating well enough and a squad that isn’t trying hard enough. That’s a precarious position to be in for a man who has to answer for both.

Hopefully the international break gives him a chance to reset and find some answers. Otherwise the sun could set on United’s season a lot sooner than anyone expected.