Pressure mounts on Carrick as Man United seek to halt slide at Fulham

One month into the new Premier League season, excuses about bedding-in processes and newly assembled squads needing time to gel are wearing thin and for Manchester United there is an acute sense of urgency as the international break looms. United are by no means the only ‘big club’ enduring a faltering start to the campaign but after so much pre-season optimism, the spotlight has fallen very much on manager Michael Carrick ahead of Sunday’s trip to Fulham. Only one win in four league games, at home to promoted Ipswich Town, has been compounded by Wednesday’s League Cup exit at home to Brighton and Hove Albion having led 2-0. Another setback at Craven Cottage against a Fulham side without a league win so far would escalate the pressure on Carrick and deepen the sense that United’s season is in danger of drifting before it has properly begun. “Of course we can turn it around, we have got some really good players,” Carrick said after the 3-2 defeat by Brighton – the first time United had lost at Old Trafford having led by two goals for 50 years. “It feels bad because we haven’t had a great week or two, or three weeks. “We’ve got another game on Sunday, and that’s the crucial thing now. We need to flip that and start winning games again.” United will be buoyed by the fact they have not lost at Fulham since 2009, but while the London club have made a slow start under new manager Alvaro Arbeloa, a draw at Liverpool last week and a League Cup win at West Ham United in midweek offered glimpses of better things to come. Liverpool remain unbeaten under new manager Andoni Iraola in all competitions but three draws from four Premier League games has stifled any early-season momentum. Iraola will be back in very familiar surroundings on Sunday as his side travel to Bournemouth, the south coast club the Spaniard consistently had punching above their weight. Bournemouth are yet to win in the Premier League under Iraola’s replacement Marco Rose, but three draws and a rather unlucky loss away at Manchester City is scant return for some eye-catching football under the German. Chelsea began the season with a flourish under Xabi Alonso, prompting talk of title challenges, but defeat by Arsenal and a draw at home with promoted Hull City have offered a reality check. If Carrick is already feeling the heat, Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi’s need for a result this weekend is perhaps even greater. After a summer spend in excess of £300 million ($401 million), things were supposed to be different this season after successive 17th-placed finishes. Instead, after four games, that is exactly where Tottenham find themselves again after no wins – and not a single goal – in their opening four games. De Zerbi remained confident after Tuesday’s League Cup loss at Liverpool that his side would ‘click’ soon and Saturday’s early kickoff at home to an Aston Villa side with only one point so far would be an opportune moment for that to happen. With so much focus on the failings of others, reigning champions Arsenal and Manchester City have been serene. Both have 100 per cent records and have already distanced themselves from the pack in ominous fashion. City aim to continue their impressive start to the post-Guardiola era with a home clash against Sunderland on Sunday, while Arsenal face perhaps the trickiest of this weekend’s potential banana skins away to Brighton, whose tally of 13 goals from four games is the highest in the division.