Michael Carrick alarm bells are ringing at Man United, Rio Ferdinand's damning stat proves it

The alarm bells are surely now ringing louder than ever before for Michael Carrick when it comes to his long-term future as Manchester United manager.

The Red Devils' rocky start to the new Premier League season continued on Sunday afternoon, as they laboured to a 1-1 draw away at Fulham.

Lisandro Martinez's own goal put the Cottagers ahead shortly after the hour mark, and United needed a deflected 89th-minute effort from Matheus Cunha to salvage anything from the game.

Carrick's side have now won just one of their opening five Premier League games, despite a favourable fixture list that has seen them play two newly-promoted clubs, plus Fulham, who are sitting in the bottom three at this stage.

The pressure is beginning to mount on the 45-year-old just months into his role as United's permanent boss, and he needs to oversee a sharp turnaround after the international break.

Expectations are high at Old Trafford after the impressive end to last season, but the team have undoubtedly fallen far below them so far.

Man United completely out-worked by Fulham

United's performance at Craven Cottage saw plenty of familiar issues rear their heads once again, not least the lack of quality in the final third.

The visitors took 29 shots at Bernd Leno's goal across the 90 minutes, but only hit the target with six, and created an xG of just 1.6, a tally which was less than their hosts'.

However, for all the issues at the top end of the pitch, it was the running stats that will really have Carrick fearing for his future.

Rio Ferdinand took to X midway through the game, as he shared a screenshot from Sky Sports' coverage, which highlighted that United had run six kilometres less than Fulham by the 73rd minute.

That differential continued until the end of the game, with Fotmob's final totals showing that Carrick's men only ran 110km, compared to their hosts' 116km.

For United to be out-worked in that manner by a team who arguably have inferior quality is simply inexcusable, and it may effectively be the beginning of the end for Carrick.

It can be notoriously difficult for a manager to retrieve the situation once players show signs of not running for him, and that is arguably what he is now facing.

Man United 'vacuum' could get Michael Carrick sacked

Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness recently told Football Insider that Carrick could potentially lose his job during the November international break if things don't improve.

The former boardroom man made it clear that the "vacuum" created by the break can often be problematic for managers, as there are no games to distract from the talk surrounding their futures.

Wyness suggested that Carrick could easily be out of a job before the end of 2026, with goals and points the only way for him to steady the ship.

The situation is looking increasingly bleak for the former United midfielder, who needs his fortunes to turn quickly in the coming weeks.