What United lack most at the moment was laid bare despite Fergie time show vs West Ham

Manchester United pulled off a last-gasp equaliser to claim a share of the points in their Premier League clash against West Ham United at the London Stadium on Tuesday. With Chelsea dropping points, the Red Devils remain fourth but failed to go level on points with Aston Villa in third. Michael Carrick’s team had the chance to win five in a row, but produced a lazy and disjointed effort and were lucky to escape with a point. Tomas Soucek handed the Hammers the lead, and it needed a clever flick in stoppage time from substitute Benjamin Sesko to spare the caretaker head coach’s blushes. Poor from the attackers Another Fergie time goal and a point right at the death when a loss seemed inevitable will boost squad morale and will have pleased the away fans, but Carrick will be bitterly disappointed. The attacking quartet, who have been so good in previous games, looked miles off the pace, with both summer signings, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo struggling to impact the game. With such a thin squad, the 20-time English league champions are simply not ready to play twice a week. Having played on Saturday, the United players almost seemed like they were partaking in training drills. Slow build up, mispasses galore and a lack of intensity and hunger were on full display. A better squad, with more options on the bench could have swung things in the away side’s favour. Apart from the Slovenian goalscorer, the away side hardly had any impact substitutes on the bench, with Joshua Zirkzee the only other attacking option available at Carrick’s disposal. Shaw and Lisandro Martinez were shocking The major blame for the result will go to both Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw. Both defended abysmally for the goal. The Englishman rashly went in when he should have held his ground while the World Cup winner was too passive and allowed Soucek to make that darting run in front of goal. The Argentine has been severely criticised in recent weeks and based on tonight’s performance, he needs to buckle up and get things sorted. He was easily beaten on a couple of occasions, and while he can be very effective on the ball, the Argentina international is proving to be a liability off it. Carrick has a lot to ponder The less said the better about Luke Shaw. At United for almost 12 years, it is beyond understanding how the England international has lasted this long. His injury record is poor and the 30-year-old only seems to be fit and firing when a contract renewal is needed or if there is a World Cup or European Championship around the corner. Being such a senior member of the squad, his decision-making often times beggars belief. Carrick has a lot to ponder before United’s trip to Merseyside to face Everton in two weeks’ time. Feature image James Fearn 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 Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25