For the third time in less than 10 months, Manchester United have been beaten by opponents reduced to 10 men before half-time.

While the arguments raging around the 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City have centred around the official apology from Pro Ref to United for what they say was “an error of judgement” around Erling Haaland’s matchwinner, the inquest will go much deeper at the club’s Carrington training ground.

After pushing back on the idea four points from three games wasn’t a great start at Everton last weekend, head coach Michael Carrick now accepts “there is no getting away” from the fact four points from four games is below expectations.

One win, at home to newly-promoted Ipswich, means so many questions – around recruitment, team selection, substitutions, tactics and Carrick himself – will now start to be asked ahead of a huge week.

“We don’t need a break or a restart,” said Carrick. “We’ve just got to move on and get winning again.”

United entertain Brighton in the Carabao Cup on 16 September, before a trip to Fulham four days later.

If nothing else, Carrick needs his side to deliver to prevent a new three-week international break being filled with external inquests around what is going wrong at Old Trafford.

Speaking in his press conference after the game, new City boss Enzo Maresca accepted Phil Foden’s red card made the game more difficult for his side.

However, he also highlighted why he knew it would also be a problem for United.

“They are a team that loves transitions and space in behind,” he said.

“With 10 players, we just dropped and waited for them, so we didn’t concede any transitions and didn’t concede any space in behind. That is why the game became more difficult for us and for them.”

United have been more effective as a counter-attacking team since Jose Mourinho arrived at the club over a decade ago. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to change it, but never quite got there.

The same, to an extent, is true of Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, both of whom came to United after achieving success in a domestic league where their side dominated the opposition. As a player, Carrick liked to get on the ball and not give it away. It is fair to assume that is what he wants from his players.

Keeping the ball is one thing. Having the vision and skill to keep possession and create chances against opponents quite prepared to sit in, deny space and keep their shape is another.

United’s summer recruitment strategy was based around their midfield. Yet, with Youri Tielemans yet to find top form, Carlos Baleba still to make his debut and Andrey Santos dropped to the bench after the opening game at Hull and not used at all against City, the overall impact of their £155m summer spend has been limited.

At the same time, with Luke Shaw’s 41-game run of consecutive Premier League starts coming to an end, there was no fresh back-up at left-back, as most observers expected.

And the introduction of Netherlands forward Joshua Zirkzee – someone who had been available for transfer all summer – for Marcus Rashford seven minutes from time as one of only two United substitutes, gave a strong indication the overall depth in Carrick’s squad is not at the level required.

Bruno Fernandes won the PFA and Football Writers’ Player of the Year awards last season for an outstanding campaign when he scored nine goals and claimed a Premier League record 22 assists.

So far this season, he has scored three times and has one assist. The goals record is good, but the assists are not. More importantly, his overall impact seems to have dipped.

Some observers felt he looked tired against City, which only heightened questions around his involvement against Azerbaijan champions Sabah FK in the Champions League.

Despite their lowly ranking, it was understandable why Carrick would take no chances with his team selection as United returned to Europe’s elite competition after a two-year absence.

However, with his side three goals up at the break and knowing there was a three-day turnaround to the City game, it was puzzling why Carrick elected to leave his skipper on the pitch for the full 90 minutes as he chose to use all five substitutes.

Now into the final year of his contract, which United have the option to extend to the summer of 2028, a continued over-reliance on Fernandes is a concern.

Carrick was appointed head coach on a permanent basis with a two-year contract in May after presiding over 12 victories in 17 games when in temporary charge following Amorim’s dismissal.

While most said Carrick deserved his shot at the job full-time, others said it smacked of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s appointment, also after impressing in interim charge in 2019.

Solskjaer’s record is decent and he remains the only United boss from the post Sir Alex Ferguson era to deliver successive top three finishes.

Yet the Norwegian never shrugged off claims he was not an elite coach. Critics will continue to argue the same is true of Carrick until he proves them otherwise.

When City were reduced to 10 men, did he go for the jugular?

“I thought we had a fair bit of the initiative, especially second half,” he said. “Before they scored, I thought we were better.

“I thought we could improve on the second half of the first half. I thought we’d come out at half-time and build momentum. We hit the post, and the game was building the way we wanted. Then the goal obviously had a big impact.

“We could have finished the game better. We could have been a little bit more creative.”

No-one is panicking just yet, but United’s start to the season has raised familiar questions. Carrick needs to find the answers.