Getting rid of head coach is not going to solve the problems that led to his appointment. Perhaps it’s worth, for once, doing something different

At the final whistle at Elland Road the TV cameras cut to a lingering shot of Manchester United chief executive, Omar Berrada, looking down pensively from the stands, deciding, it is to be hoped, on a little clemency, a re-sheathing of the managerial shotgun.

Here we have the man who hired the man. The man who fires the man. The man who also hired or rehired the previous two men he had to fire. Berrada was poached from Manchester City on the basis of his ability to grow commercial revenue (yes, OK, stop laughing), and appears, like everyone else with any actual reach around here, to exist in a strangely consequence-free bubble.

What next for Michael Carrick and Manchester United? Game-wise, the answer is Wednesday’s trip to Como yet after failing, again, to double their league win tally to two, you have to wonder the destination for an already flatlining team.

This display was the latest unconvincing outing under the 45-year-old. It featured an odd formation, zero rhythm or control, and the same prevailing sense that the wheels could clatter off anytime.

Manchester United head coach produced a masterclass in dialling down emotion before a tricky trip to Leeds

Michael Carrick returned his most impressive performance precisely when required as he took questions in the midst of the first crisis engulfing him as Manchester United’s manager.

His team are bombing in the league after the club’s poorest start since 1986 and out of the Carabao Cup, and after Tuesday’s Champions League defeat at Atlético Madrid Lisandro Martínez showed up ruptures at United by calling out the director of football, Jason Wilcox.

Defender may not be blameless in team’s struggles but his criticism goes to the heart of what has gone wrong at the club

Heartbreaking: the worst defender you know just made a great point. And no, nobody would describe Lisandro Martínez as the ideal person to scrutinise Manchester United’s indifferent start to the season, given that his high-profile defensive errors against Fulham and Tottenham are partly responsible for it. “We’re all trying to find the guy who did this,” Martínez burbles on Amazon Prime after United’s 2-0 defeat by Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night, dressed in a hot dog costume and throwing his arms out in mock innocence.

For those with no interest in engaging with what Martínez actually had to say, this alone will be sufficient grounds to ignore him. Already you can sense the squeamishness of former players for whom the violation of an omertà is the real cardinal sin here, a phantom limb that still tingles years after they last stepped into a dressing room. “Disrespectful,” reckoned Wayne Rooney. “I don’t feel like he’s got the right,” agreed Ashley Young. “These things don’t end well, man,” Rio Ferdinand observed on his podcast.

From Jason Wilcox’s role to the views of the rest of the squad, we tackle the major talking points at Old Trafford after the defender’s outburst

After Manchester United’s 2-0 loss at Atlético Madrid, Lisandro Martínez teed off at the director of football, Jason Wilcox, and the rest of the executive. “We don’t have the best squad at the moment compared with other top teams,” said the defender. “I expect more [investment], 100%. I expect more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox] … Really poor [the Atlético defeat] – I have to control myself a lot but something is a reflection of the mirror of how our club is at the moment.” Here we consider the key questions emerging from Martínez’s explosive remarks.

• United have endured worst league start since 1986-87

• Trip to Atlético in Champions League awaits on Tuesday

Manchester United have endured their worst league start in 40 years but Michael Carrick insists he is “loving it”. United arrived in Madrid without Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw, who both picked up knocks in the draw against Tottenham at the weekend, and with the coach admitting that his team are in “a spot”, but he vowed that they would “come out fighting”.

Despite collecting just six points in the Premier League so far, Carrick claimed he did not feel under pressure and backed his captain, Bruno Fernandes, who he revealed was still “carrying something”, to rediscover his form. As he talked about building, there was a reminder too of the fact that Arsenal, the champions, finished “seventh or eighth” in Mikel Arteta’s first two seasons.

• Six points from six games is worst start since 1986

• De Zerbi praises Spurs’ character after late equaliser

Michael Carrick was left “massively disappointed” by Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham at Old Trafford and admitted they need more points after managing six from their opening six league games.

This is United’s poorest start to the season since 1986, Saturday’s draw coming when conceding Dominic Solanke’s added-time equaliser for 10-man Spurs, following Rodrigo Bentancur’s 78th-minute red card. The midfielder was sent off five minutes after Bryan Mbeumo’s opener had left United heading for only a second league victory.

United manager Carrick rues missing out on ‘emotion in the moment’ while Iraola’s players are focusing on next game, not the fallout