Manchester United were held to yet another 1-1 draw, this time away at Elland Road against arch-rivals Leeds United.
The Red Devils have a mere seven points from as many Premier League games and are yet to win a game in more than a month.
United took the lead in the first half through Bryan Mbeumo, but as has been the case many times this season, the team crumbled under pressure in the second half.
Poor set-piece defending has been a theme for the team and it continued on Sunday, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin pouncing on the mistake at the back.
What were those second half tactical tweaks?
It was a disastrous second 45 minutes for the 20-time English league champions, partly due to Michael Carrick’s strange tactical calls.
He opted to take off Lisandro Martinez and brought on Noussair Mazraoui. Instead of moving the full-back out wide, the Moroccan was asked to play alongside Harry Maguire at the heart of the defence.
Matthijs de Ligt was on the bench and could have come on. Leny Yoro, who is being forced to play out wide, would have been a far more natural fit as a centre-back.
Youri Tielemans, who enjoyed a fine first half and earned the assist for the goal, was asked to play out wide. After the home side equalised, the travelling United supporters must have felt that Carrick would throw the kitchen sink in order to try and earn a late win.
Lack of courage from United in the end
Instead, the head coach chose to take off his best player in Carlos Baleba for Mason Mount, while bringing on Matheus Cunha with minutes left to play.
The likes of Marcus Rashford, Joshua Zirkzee and Shea Lacey could have been brought on much earlier alongside the Brazilian if the visitors truly wanted to change the course of the game.
It almost seemed like Carrick was pleased not to lose the game and was happy to take home a point.
The in-game management from the former United midfielder made no sense, while his cowardly approach remains a concern.
INEOS are just delaying the inevitable at the moment as the wait for a win for the Old Trafford giants rolls on.
Feature image Denis Doyle via Getty Images
