Manchester United were ahead twice at Merseyside on Sunday afternoon and still walked away with only a single point. The 96th-minute equaliser from Ainsley Maitland-Niles was painful to accept, but the real issue at this club runs deeper than one spectacular strike.
This was not a case of bad fortune. It was a display filled with flashes of individual quality, yet completely unable to close out a match that was there for the taking.
Michael Carrick sees it clearly. So does every supporter watching.
The warning signs are now too loud to dismiss
Three league fixtures. Three games without a clean sheet. Two goals shipped in each of those matches, a feat that has occurred only once in the prior half-century at this club. That is not bad luck but a developing trend.
Against Hull City on the opening weekend, United fell 2-0, with defensive cracks visible from the very start. Against newly promoted Ipswich, they triumphed 5-2, a scoreline that appeared dominant but concealed the same structural weaknesses behind the attacking fireworks. And now this, leading twice versus an Everton outfit that fielded just one fit senior forward, only to surrender two points in added time.
The goals United are conceding are not all masterpieces. They stem from a backline that looks hesitant and far too simple to break down. Until that is addressed, this team will keep handing points to sides they ought to beat comfortably.
The encouraging signs are real, yet insufficient
There were positives, and they should not be overlooked.
Luke Shaw delivered a strong showing at left back, a position that dominated United’s summer transfer talk, and his link-up with Marcus Rashford carried genuine menace. Rashford himself, starting for the second straight game after a summer where his exit seemed inevitable, looked lively, dangerous, and a constant worry for the defence before coming off with a slight issue.
Šeško offered, in his short time on the field, exactly the physical edge and clinical finishing that United have desperately lacked. And Mbeumo’s goal was the kind of solo effort that wins tight contests at the top level.
But solo efforts cannot mask collective instability. United have enough talent to hurt opponents. They do not yet have enough resilience to guard a lead, and in a Premier League campaign that will only grow tougher, that gap will prove expensive.
The fixture list ahead offers no mercy
The Champions League returns to Old Trafford this week as Sabah come to town, a welcome occasion for a club that has longed for Europe’s elite stage. But the run of games that follows is unforgiving, and United’s current defensive numbers make for grim reading before that stretch.
Carrick is constructing something. The outline of a clear style appears in patches, the pressing, the attacking ambition, and the individual brilliance spread across the squad. But outlines are not a finished product, and right now United remain very much a work in progress.
A 2-2 result at Everton is not a disaster. Yet it stands as a clear message that this Manchester United side is not fully restored. Not yet. Not even close.
The labour goes on. It must.