And just like that, the bubble burst. Manchester United awoke from the halcyon dream of seven games unbeaten, of being one of the form sides in Europe under Michael Carrick, to find that old habits die hard. In three of his eight games in charge United’s opposition have been reduced to ten men, but as Newcastle United comprehensively outgunned a timid set of Red Devils despite playing a whole half one man down, the spectre of the November defeat to Everton and its flashing red question marks around the squad’s mentality reared its head once again. A rash of red cards United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 last month after Cristian Romero was sent off, and the dismissal of Maxence Lacroix allowed them to fight back to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 last week, clawing their way back into a contest that seemed to be getting away from them. But the harsh red card dished out to Jacob Ramsey at St James’ Park on Wednesday seemed to give United no upper hand at all. If anything, it strengthened Newcastle’s resolve and made United’s evening even harder. The Magpies drew on the perceived injustice not just of the sending off – a second yellow shown for an innocuous Ramsey dive – but also their visitors scoring in the 54th minute of the first half to maintain a fight and desire which by and large blew United away. Newcastle’s ability to feed off a negative moment to produce a steely performance full of heart and power sat in stark contrast to United, who once again wilted when handed a numerical advantage. Mentality minnows There are two possible reasons for this recurring problem and neither reflects well on players or manager, be it Ruben Amorim for the Everton debacle or Carrick for Newcastle. Perhaps United’s players find themselves crumbling under the sudden weight of expectation, the notion that it would be unthinkable to do anything but win against a team with ten men causing a knee-knocking nervousness which leaves them vulnerable. Alternatively, the players may see a red card for their opponents as the first step on the way to a foregone conclusion. There’s no need to work hard, they may smile knowingly to each other – there’s more of us than there is of them, so we’ve basically already won. Whichever it is, or if it is something else entirely, rooting it out must be an absolute priority for Carrick now and for whoever takes on the permanent role come the summer. If the interim can get his squad to kick the habit between now and the end of the season then that’s a huge boost to his chances of landing the top job; if he can’t, United must find someone who can. Positive signs There is much more to football than beating teams who have had a man sent off, and to be fair Carrick has done that twice in his short spell in the Old Trafford hotseat. In fact, for all that the Newcastle game was as much a mental capitulation as anything else, Carrick’s iteration of United has undoubtedly picked up points which would have slipped through the fingers of Amorim’s incarnation. United were rightly praised for showing mettle to find a last-gasp winner against Fulham after letting a two-goal lead slip in injury time, and for snatching a point at West Ham with a late Benjamin Sesko equaliser. Coming from behind against Palace and withstanding an Everton barrage to win on Merseyside were also triumphs which may not have happened under Carrick’s predecessor. But Newcastle revealed that the Red Devils still have a soft underbelly. If the team’s belief is fading as quickly as its form then Carrick faces a losing battle, but if they can capture the verve and courage they showed in those key moments then they – and their interim head coach – can come back swinging once and for all. Featured image George Wood via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Joe Ponting Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried. He cut his teeth working in print media for local newspapers and entered football journalism covering the grassroots game for the Non-League Paper. Here he achieved a career high, interviewing United legend Sir Bobby Charlton to get his views on the lower echelons of the football pyramid. To kill time during international breaks Joe writes album reviews and has strong views on post punk for Plus One Magazine.
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