Manchester United's ratings slide exposes a squad-wide collapse, not just Carrick
WhoScored data compiled by Planet Football shows ten Manchester United players rated worse than last season, a decline that complicates the case against manager Michael Carrick.
Manchester United's miserable start to 2026-27 has put Michael Carrick under scrutiny, but a breakdown of WhoScored match ratings compiled by Planet Football suggests the manager is not working with a squad performing to last season's level.
WhoScored's rating measures a player's statistical output in a match — passing, defensive actions, shots, dribbles and more combined into a single figure — and it is not a perfect proxy for form, but a squad-wide drop of this scale across Premier League fixtures only is hard to explain away as noise.
Ten first-team players have seen their average rating fall compared with last season, according to Planet Football's analysis, with the biggest decliners spanning every area of the pitch: defence, midfield and attack.
Martinez's outburst sits awkwardly with his own numbers
Lisandro Martinez's rating has dropped from 6.68 to 6.13, the second-largest fall in the squad, and it comes in the same window as his pointed comment after the Atletico Madrid defeat: "I expect more, 100%. I expect more from our technical director."
The defender was then sent off and conceded a penalty in the loss to Chelsea, a sequence that undercuts the idea that United's problems sit solely in the boardroom. A centre-back demanding more from Jason Wilcox while his own disciplinary record actively costs his team points is a harder position to hold.
Bruno Fernandes offers a gentler version of the same story. His rating has fallen from 7.49 to 7.01, the fourth-steepest decline, but he remains United's only player averaging above seven and still ranks as their best performer this season. The context matters here: Fernandes set the Premier League's record for assists in a season last term, so some regression was statistically likely. One assist so far this season is still a stark drop-off for a captain whose creative output effectively defined United's attack a year ago.
Positional muddle and injuries are dragging the numbers down
Patrick Dorgu tops the decline list, falling from 6.89 to 6.28. Planet Football's framing of him as unresolved between full-back and winger points to a deeper structural issue: a player used in multiple roles rarely accumulates the touches or defensive actions that build a strong rating in either position, because he never settles into the habits either role rewards.
Benjamin Sesko's fall, from 6.76 to 6.21, is driven largely by minutes rather than form. He has not started a league game all season, has one goal from four substitute appearances, and is expected to be sidelined until January. A striker restricted to late cameos is structurally disadvantaged in a per-90 rating system that favours sustained involvement, which makes his decline less a verdict on ability than a reflection of limited opportunity.
Ayden Heaven's situation is similar in shape. His rating of 6.09, the lowest in the current squad, comes from just two starts and two substitute appearances. The scale of the drop reflects a young defender who broke through last season but has since been pushed to the fringes, not a player in visible regression.
The defensive record underlines the collective nature of the slump
Perhaps the most damning figure in the piece is not an individual rating at all: United have yet to keep a Premier League clean sheet this season. Senne Lammens, whose rating has slipped only marginally from 6.57 to 6.38, had a solid debut campaign as first-choice goalkeeper, which makes the absence of a single shutout a squad-wide defensive failing rather than a goalkeeping one.
Matheus Cunha and Amad complete the picture of an attack misfiring. Cunha's rating has dropped from 7.11 to 6.74 with only one goal in nine games, while Amad, rated 6.9 last season and 6.5 now, has neither scored nor assisted in four league starts. Noussair Mazraoui's solitary start all season and Joshua Zirkzee's run of five substitute appearances round out a squad list where almost no position has escaped the slide.
Taken together, the data makes a case that is more nuanced than simply exonerating or condemning Carrick. A manager cannot be judged in isolation when his captain, his senior centre-back, his first-choice goalkeeper and his most expensive forward are all rated lower than twelve months ago. The question for United's hierarchy is whether this is a temporary dip across a settled group or the early sign of a squad that needs rebuilding before results can turn.