Como 4-1 Manchester United: Behind in Two Minutes Again, With Bruno and Cunha Boxed In

For the second Champions League match running, we were behind before the clock reached two minutes. By ESPN's match clock, Atlético scored after 47 seconds in Madrid last week and Nico Paz took 118 at Como on Wednesday. Sky Sports and ESPN have United as the first English side to do that in back-to-back Champions League matches. On X during the match, fans tied it to Madrid within minutes, more weary than shocked.

The other half is the shape Michael Carrick picked, which left Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha, our two best creators, with nowhere to turn. Como 4, United 1, in the Champions League league phase, matchday 3.

Grading the preview

Our preview called it Como 2-1 and said whoever was left at the back would decide it. We got the winner, missed the margin by two, and had Bruno scoring our goal; Joshua Zirkzee got it.

We said start Matthijs de Ligt next to Harry Maguire, and Carrick did, for de Ligt's first start in 325 days (ESPN, from PA). Our "what would make us wrong" line said the defense would hold if de Ligt played like the time off never happened and Maguire won everything in the air. That was a lot to ask of a rebuilt back line, and it didn't happen: Sky's Peter Smith has Anastasios Douvikas getting in behind for Como's second. We wanted Noussair Mazraoui at right-back and Diogo Dalot on the left, and ESPN's team sheet had them the other way round.

The preview never raised the first two minutes, or the midfield, and that's where this one was lost.

Bruno up front, Cunha with his back to goal

ESPN's team sheet has a 4-2-3-1 with Bruno as the striker, Youri Tielemans behind him, Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo wide, and Mason Mount and Andrey Santos deeper. The Guardian's Jamie Jackson, who was at the ground, had it the same way: "Fernandes a false-ish 9."

Our captain is at his best facing goal. As a false nine his back is to it, and Como were ready. Bruno told TNT Sports: "As you saw with them [Como], the centre-back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable to" (via the Manchester Evening News). Cunha's best moment came on 45 minutes, when he took the ball on the corner of the box "back to goal," as the Guardian's live blog put it, spun and sent it over the bar. Bruno set it up; it was the only first-half shot either took.

ESPN's play-by-play has United with three attempts in the first half and none on target, and our first shot on target didn't come until the hour, at 3-0 down. Eight of our 13 shots came from outside the box, Bruno's and Cunha's included, while Como took eight of their 11 from inside ours. ESPN's match stats have Como on 54.8% possession and eight shots on target to our four. A side that can't get its playmakers facing goal ends up shooting from distance and hoping.

The half-time fix that half worked

Carrick took off Cunha and Santos at the break for Amad Diallo and Carlos Baleba. Jackson reports the reshuffle moved Tielemans into central midfield, Bruno to No. 10 and Mbeumo up front. At the back, nothing changed: Paz slipped Douvikas in on 49 minutes, then won the ball in our half and scored again on 57. Jacobo Ramón headed in Kaiki's cross on 76 to make it four.

Going forward, though, ESPN's play-by-play gives Amad a hand in all four of United's shots on target: he set up Tielemans on 60, made Jean Butez save twice, and crossed for Zirkzee's goal in stoppage time. Bruno, back at No. 10, had his only shot on 61 and set up Amad on 66 before Zirkzee replaced him on 67.

There's a fix in there. With a runner ahead of Bruno and Amad running at people out wide, we got the shots on target the first-half shape never produced.

Captain and manager, in their own words

Bruno told TNT: "It's a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, but sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confidence." Asked if Carrick got it wrong: "That's on the manager and staff to see it, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable" (both to BBC Sport's Simon Stone). And, per the Manchester Evening News: "Conceding early makes us go into game with a mood of defeat, it's difficult to get out of that."

Carrick answered at his press conference: "We actually half-pressed man-to-man in the second half and then conceded a goal from that," he said, and "whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don't run, and you don't run forward, and you don't run back, you aren't going to win" (to the Press Association's Simon Peach, via the Irish News).

ESPN's Rob Dawson called it a "war of words," and Jackson has the manager and his captain "at loggerheads." Bruno is talking about the plan and Carrick about the running, and the match reports found some of both. Jackson wrote that "United's press was piecemeal, as Fernandes identified, maybe involving one or two, but never a group act." Smith wrote that United "were once again outworked by their opposition." Tielemans, per Dawson, called it a "non-performance."

Carrick walked to the away end at full time and held his hands up. "I want to apologize to the supporters," he said. "I went over at the end" (to ESPN's Dawson). "For us to play in that way is not acceptable," he added (to PA and BBC Sport).

Bournemouth on Sunday

It's seven without a win in all competitions, the last a 4-0 over Sabah on Sept. 10. We're 21st of 36 in the league phase with 3 points from three (the table), and 13th in the Premier League on 7 points (the table).

Bournemouth, 15th on 6 points, come to Old Trafford on Sunday, Oct. 25, for Premier League Matchweek 8, at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT) on Peacock (full schedule). We didn't buy the "fresh start" after Leeds, and Como didn't change our minds. On Sunday we'd settle for Bruno facing the goal with a runner in front of him, and a scoreless first two minutes.

Alarm's set. Coffee's on. Come on, United.

Sources: ESPN (match, match stats, report, from PA, Carrick's apology, Rob Dawson on Carrick and Fernandes and the fallout); the Guardian (Jamie Jackson's report, Simon Burnton's live blog); BBC Sport (Simon Stone); Sky Sports, Peter Smith (report, Fernandes and Carrick); Press Association, Simon Peach (via the Irish News); Manchester Evening News, Steven Railston (Fernandes). Team sheets from ESPN. Numbers from our schedule and table data and ESPN.