But results never tell the whole story.
Four games ago at West Ham, Manchester United were “stodgy'” by Carrick’s own admission. It took an injury-time Benjamin Sesko goal to salvage a point.
At Everton, Sesko finished off the only notable passage of play from either side. On Sunday, Manchester United‘s response to going behind early to Crystal Palace was muted until Matheus Cunha won the penalty that also brought the red card that turned the game on its head.
Carrick’s team have been getting results. However, their most-recent performances have not matched those that beat Manchester City, Arsenal and Fulham at the start of his time at the helm.
Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo have not been a goal threat; Kobbie Mainoo’s performance levels have dipped, while penetration from full-back areas has reduced.
It is a basic reality that they do not have limitless numbers of top-quality players. By the final whistle at St James’ Park, Matthijs de Ligt, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui and Patrick Dorgu were all absent because of injury. Casemiro and Luke Shaw were off the pitch feeling the effects of two hard games in four days. Carrick does not have the squad depth to cover those losses and still keep standards high.
So, embarrassingly, Manchester United lost against 10 men for the second time in just over three months. The damage was done by William Osula – a player who, as an 11-year-old, appeared on the pitch at Old Trafford to collect a Soccer Schools World Skills final victory prize.
His goal came after he got the better of Tyrell Malacia, who was making only his second appearance of a season he started as a member of Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’. The previous one was against Newcastle too.
The damage is not too bad though. Liverpool lost 24 hours earlier against the league’s bottom club before Aston Villa suffered a heavy home loss to Chelsea on Wednesday.
Manchester United remain third. They remain, out of the sides scrapping it out for three Champions League places in addition to the ones Arsenal and Manchester City will claim, the ones with no European or domestic cup distractions.
“We need to learn from this,” said Carrick.
“There is no sense in not learning lessons and understanding how tonight happened.
“We can’t lose sight of the bigger picture though – we have put ourselves into a position that can be really exciting.
“We’ve got to be positive going into the next game and look forward to it because there is a lot to play for.”
Carrick is right about that.
He needs to make sure his team’s response to this defeat is just as sure footed.
