Paul Scholes Urges Carrick to Solve United's No 9 Dilemma

Paul Scholes has sounded the alarm for Michael Carrick, insisting Manchester United cannot keep stumbling on without a recognised centre forward – and that Matheus Cunha is at the heart of the problem.

The Brazilian turned in a grim display in Sunday’s goalless draw with Everton, one that laid bare United’s attacking confusion. While several players fell short, Cunha’s afternoon was a mess from start to finish.

Passes were overhit. Touches bounced off him. His movement never quite matched what the game demanded. He drifted into spaces that hurt United more than Everton, and when chances did come, he failed to take them. It felt less like an off day and more like a player unsure of who or what he is in this team.

Last season, Carrick largely trusted Cunha on the left side of the attack, where his energy and direct running gave United a different edge. That avenue has narrowed. Marcus Rashford’s return has changed the landscape, with Carrick clearly preferring the England international in that wide role.

Cunha, as a result, has been shunted elsewhere. At times he has led the line, nominally as a No 9 but operating more like a false nine. On other occasions, Bruno Fernandes has stepped into that central attacking role, leaving Cunha to drop into the No 10 position. The picture has become muddled.

The outcome is a forward who looks stripped of the spark and conviction that marked his first season at Old Trafford. The legs might still be catching up after the summer, the sharpness might not be fully there yet, but Scholes sees something more worrying for Carrick than simple rust.

On The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, the former United midfielder did not hide his frustration.

"It's very difficult to watch a Man United team without a centre forward," Scholes said. "Now, what Cunha is, I don't really know what Cunha is, what is he a number 10 or a wide player.

"But he's definitely not a number nine. And watching the United team without a number nine, it's a struggle."

The contrast was stark when Benjamin Sesko came off the bench at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Suddenly United had a focal point. The Slovenian attacked the box, bullied defenders, and gave United a clear target.

His reward came with a towering header, rising highest to meet a superb Luke Shaw cross and restore United’s lead, if only briefly. That was what a natural centre forward looks like: one chance, one decisive moment, one goal.

Then, in stoppage time, Ainsley Maitland-Niles ripped the script to pieces, crashing in a stunning equaliser that silenced the away end and wiped out Sesko’s impact on the scoreline, if not on the debate around United’s attack.

The draw leaves Carrick with a very public dilemma. Does he persist with Cunha in a role that doesn’t suit him, trying to play his way back to form and clarity? Or does he lean into the simplicity of a traditional striker like Sesko, even if it means reshuffling the rest of his attacking puzzle?

Those questions will not wait long for an answer. United open their Champions League campaign against Sabah on Thursday, and Carrick’s team sheet will say plenty about how he plans to solve his Cunha conundrum – and whether Scholes’ warning has already started to bite.