They say the league table never lies.
Of course, with the advance of statistical metrics like expected goals and more data being introduced into the game, we now know the league table lies all the time.
The current Premier League table would have you believe Manchester United are a mid-table side -- underperforming but not all that far from where they need to be. Even last season, United finished third under Michael Carrick, but performances were significantly dropping as the season concluded.
Tottenham, the division's most underperforming side who are yet to score a goal before the 86th minute of a game, remain in the relegation zone, and while Roberto De Zerbi's men have undeniably been poor this season, they've at least been dangerous in spells. Their biggest issue has been not taking advantage of those spells, then falling behind and being unable to find their way back into games.
On the back of Saturday's meeting between the two, there's an argument to say that, actually, United are in a much worse position than Tottenham.
Spurs were aggressive, on the front foot and battered United for the first hour, with De Zerbi surely left scratching his head as to how his side weren't three up at the break. They were then able to introduce Rodrigo Bentancur, Omar Marmoush, Micky Van de Ven, James Maddison and Mateus Fernandes from the bench.
By comparison, Carrick brought on Diogo Dalot, Carlos Baleba, Joshua Zirkzee, Ayden Heaven and Marcus Rashford.
Carrick wants his side to be able to outplay teams, not outrun them. Carrick the player wasn't the side-to-side, shuttle-running fire extinguisher. He read the game better than anyone on the pitch and constantly found himself in the right place at the right time. Never gifted with pace, Carrick's speed was all in his head, with the composure and range of passing to mean he never needed to outrun opponents.
It appears that's leaked into his thinking as a coach. United rank 16th in the Premier League for distance covered and have been outrun in every game bar the Manchester City game, in which City spent most of the game with 10 men.
They were outrun by 1.9km against Hull City, 0.7km against Ipswich, 2.5km against Everton, 6.5km against Fulham and 4.7km by Spurs on Saturday evening.
Spurs ran more, sprinted more and sprinted further, and it's perhaps the biggest issue facing Michael Carrick at the moment.
Speaking in pre-season, Youri Tielemans, who's now more than likely lost his place as a starting midfielder after his dismal display against Spurs, commented on how pre-season training emphasised work with the ball rather than physical intensity and that's starting to show.
For all of Ruben Amorim's endless faults during his time at Old Trafford, he got United's conditioning spot on, and while they were a mess tactically, they were superb physically. All of that hard work seems to have been quickly undone in a season where United will need to play 60 games.
Carrick doesn't shoulder all the blame. The transfer window plugged holes in midfield, but there's a £50m midfielder in Andrey Santos who can't get a kick, while Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo have been deployed as centre forwards because the club's only actual centre forward, who spent four months out injured over the summer, is set for another spell on the sidelines.
There's then the Bruno Fernandes issue. The league's best player last year was a shadow of himself at Old Trafford and there are suggestions the Portuguese was managing pain throughout the international break. After his excellent performance against Ipswich, Fernandes has failed to score or assist in his last four games now; unacceptable for a team's primary creative outlet and a conversation perhaps needs to be had about his long-term place in the side.
Fernandes is 32 now, and Carrick ought to be looking at other solutions. There's the option of playing Mason Mount, who's perhaps a little more comfortable in a deeper role, or utilising three dedicated central midfielders, which would help Tielemans's lack of mobility.
The positive for Manchester United was that Carlos Baleba is fit again after his ankle injury, with the Cameroonian buzzing to finally get a taste of Old Trafford. It gives Carrick far more running and defensive stability in midfield, but it can't be the only option to solve his side's woes.
It's been Manchester United's worst start to a season for 40 years and they've now got three away games next against Atletico Madrid, Leeds United and Como. Carrick could hardly pick three worse games to play in the space of eight days, especially given the side's form.
It's far from unthinkable that by the end of October, Manchester United will have two wins all season, both at home against the might of Azerbaijani outfit Sabah and newly promoted Ipswich.
The club don't want to get into the habit of sacking managers for a poor spell of form, but Carrick will be nervously looking over his shoulder for the next few weeks with significantly improved results -- and performances -- desperately needed.
