That was rough!
Manchester United didn’t get off to the fast start many had hoped for going into the 2026/27 Premier League season. The Reds fell 2-0 on the road to newly promoted Hull City and did not look up for it from the start. Our staff shares their thoughts on the defeat in Matchweek 1.
Suwaid – Physical Mismatch
My fear going into this game was how United would manage defensive transitions. Physicality has something to do with that, especially away from home, but defensive transitions weren’t
what did us today.
United have struggled against two sides that play with a back-three or back-five in the last week; I don’t think that’s a coincidence. For all the problems under Ruben Amorim, we didn’t get physically outmatched in most games because this particular formation pushes more physical players into the side.
It probably doesn’t need to be resolved by the next game, but it certainly should be by the time we play Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. The hope is that Michael Carrick will soon find a combination that works for most games.
Colin – Not Fit and Ready
There was a pretty clear difference in physicality on the teamsheet, but the match told a bigger story than that. The pace of play for Manchester United, and the midfield connectivity, was similar to what we saw a week ago in a preseason defeat to AC Milan. The intensity was lacking, the awareness was absent, and the speed was overwhelming for the Reds at times.
It looked like a team that hasn’t played together much, but also a team that is not up to speed yet after a World Cup summer.
Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos, and Bruno Fernandes do not have much time together on the training ground or in a live match. There’s bound to be growing pains when putting a new group together. The arrival of Carlos Baleba should help some in balancing out pivot pairings, and the experiment with Matheus Cunha up front and Patrick Dorgu out wide does not seem like one Carrick will stick with.
It happens. United have recovered from slow starts even in recent seasons. It is a missed opportunity to hit the ground running against a team that seemed likely to struggle with the jump up to the PL, but they’ll have another chance against Ipswich Town next week.
Still, it’s alarming that the team was not up for the early challenge. The chaos cycle discourse is always ready to go when it comes to United and they don’t need to stoke those flames early. Get it sorted, get a midfield that can function and get the three points next week.
Vince – The midfield still needs help
Manchester United brought in some serious midfield help this summer, but Saturday’s 2–0 loss to newly promoted Hull City showed there’s still a lot to figure out. Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos were brought in to give United more control and quality in the middle, but neither really took over the game before both came off after 67 minutes. United had around 72% of the ball, but honestly, it didn’t feel like they did much with it.
There was plenty of passing, but not enough of it actually hurt Hull or opened them up. Bruno Fernandes also struggled to really get involved in dangerous areas. With the amount of talent United now have in midfield, you’d expect more creativity, quicker decisions and a lot more urgency when they have the ball.
