The cheers were for Michael Carrick, the jeers for the players. With a banner that had former club legends and “standards” emblazoned across, Old Trafford had made the point more subtly earlier, but there was no holding back after a roundhouse whack from Bournemouth. One day later, at Salt Lake stadium where the emcee’s exhortations bounced off empty chairs in a city returning to normality after Durga Puja, Panagiotis Dilmperis looked disappointed.

It is not clear why this problem was not sorted out in the summer. Manchester United have not signed a defender; Mohun Bagan did but Mehtab Singh can play right back and centre-back. Among the players United have bought, the start has not been smooth for Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos. On Sunday, Tielemans looked a shadow of the player who had hauled Belgium into the round of 16 after they trailed Senegal by two goals until the 86th minute.

It’s the same with Dejan Drazic and Lallianzuala Chhangte at Mohun Bagan. They were signed even though the club have a number of options in those positions. One of them, Liston Colaco, delivered a cross that fetched the winner. On Monday, Drazic played as a central attacker. Chhangte started as a forward but shifted to left wingback.

Chhangte was a key player for Chennaiyin FC, a former captain at Mumbai City FC and an international since 2015. But he is yet to produce the kind of form that fetched a late brace in the ISL play-offs in 2023-24. And, he has joined a club where pressure is a way of life after losing his place in the national team.

But it is equally true that when they haven’t been lucky to get a point, Manchester United have been overrun. Some blame has to go to the coach if the team is running less, switching off (check all the goals Bournemouth scored), or lacking in intensity.

And then the idea to keep Bruno Fernandes on the bench! Alex Ferguson would possibly have done that after the captain criticised the lack of pressing against Como but in his first full season in charge does Carrick have that kind of authority? Manchester United have more players who can play No.10 than they need and it is true that Fernandes’s form has dipped. But Manchester United have won only one of the 10 league games without Fernandes. (A clear-the-air meeting between Fernandes and Carrick has happened since.)

As a temporary appointment, Carrick gave Kobbie Mainoo a fresh lease of life, moved Fernandes up the park and revived United. But like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag, have Manchester United renewed their relationship with someone who isn’t ready? Is anyone? What do you do with a problem like Manchester United?

That’s on the head coach as was the change in formations. It meant players taking on different responsibilities in defence, never an easy task for a new backline. Not everyone is Alex Freeman who excelled in defence, midfield and scored as Villarreal beat Valencia. Udanta Singh’s poor pass that Sporting Delhi intercepted for their goal on Wednesday is proof of how dangerous it can be to shoehorn an Indian winger into defence.

It was around this time last year that Jose Molina had spoken of the need for a foreign central midfielder pointing out that Mohun Bagan tend to get run over against teams that deploy imports in that region. Molina was removed and a season sacrificed before Zeljkovic was signed. (Manchester United are not the only club where some officials have a lot of leeway while coaches come and go). Yet, Mohun Bagan have been ponderous in the centre of the pitch especially when Lalengmawia Ralte is not available.

“I look…you look… I see more than you,” Mourinho has said in the Netflix series. Like between 2010 and 2013, he may have found a way against Barcelona. Dilmperis isn’t on borrowed time; Carrick is and both need to do what Mourinho has: find a way. Fast.

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