Manchester United ended pre-season with a 4-2 defeat to Milan in Breslavia on Saturday, and Michael Carrick made clear there were no excuses for the way it unfolded. United went ahead twice and still came away beaten, a result that left the manager searching for answers with less than a week before the Premier League opener at Hull City.
The defeat carried extra weight because Marcus Rashford was back in a Manchester United shirt for the first time since December 2024. His return came after Barcellona did not take up its option to buy him after the loan spell, and it gave the match a sharper edge than a routine summer run-out. For United, though, the numbers told the real story: Milan created 3.21 expected goals from 13 shots, while Carrick’s side managed 1.78 expected goals from 10 shots.
Milan did the damage through Gonçalo Ramos, Samuel Chukwueze, Alphadjo Cissé and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, with Ramos and Chukwueze each adding two assists to underline how often United were opened up. Harry Maguire and Patrick Dorgu scored for United, but even when the Premier League side found a way in front, it could not hold the lead long enough to control the game. Lorenzo Torriani also saved a Bruno Fernandes penalty when the score was 1-1, a moment that could have changed the match but instead became part of a wider collapse.
Carrick’s criticism was blunt because the failure was not just about one bad passage of play. He said the pre-season overall had been positive and that many players would benefit from the minutes, but he also said the performance against Milan was disappointing, that the team did not play well, and that there were no excuses. That matters because this was supposed to be the last clean rehearsal before the season starts, and the structure broke down in the same match that should have settled selection questions.
That leaves the biggest question hanging over United not the scoreline but the fix. Carrick said the squad is good enough and that decisions will have to be made, and those decisions now have to be made quickly, because the opener at Hull City is almost here. Rashford’s return was the headline, but the 4-2 defeat was the warning: United have less than a week to turn a loose, mistake-ridden performance into something that looks ready for the Premier League.
