Michael Carrick’s horrible Man Utd plan uncovered as West Ham declare huge level

Manchester United might have hoped they had turned a corner under Michael Carrick – four wins on the spin looked ready to turn to five on Tuesday.

However, a delicate finish from Tomas Soucek meant the Red Devils’ Premier League campaign continued to grow wild, with no clean cuts in sight. Frank Ilett, known online as The United Strand, will be putting the clippers back in the draw.

It was the first time under Carrick that United had looked unsure. They were a team reborn after the sacking of Ruben Amorim – but United looked to run out of ideas and Carrick just didn’t have the answer.

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He was too fixed, a game plan that worked against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City won’t work against the Hammers – and there had been no chance in United’s approach.

United were launching the ball into the box, after being left with no other option by West Ham’s compact defence, with their target man striker warming the bench.

Even Carrick’s substitutions looked to have been pre-planned, none of them made sense with the current flow of the game. Some disgruntled fans joked it looked like an “Amorim game”.

The superstar Slovenian was finally injected into the action, and he got onto the end of a cross, turning the ball home with a sublime finish.

It was the case of too little to late, and it was a result that really doesn’t benefit either team. West Ham had drawn level on points with 17th placed Nottingham Forest, while United could have put some breathing room between themselves and Chelsea.

It was a point stolen for United, and Paul Scholes admitted as much on TNT Sports: “I think West Ham were perfect for 90 minutes. Perfect for 90, 92 minutes but Manchester United kept going right to the death and that’s what they have got under Michael Carrick.

“I don’t think they deserved a goal but the finish was brilliant.”