Manchester United’s draw with Fulham has intensified scrutiny around their approach, with Gary Neville labelling the performance as the “ultimate criticism” a team can face. The former defender said Michael Carrick’s side did not do enough without the ball, following a week that already included elimination from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Carrick tried to keep the discussion focused on the broader picture, but Neville was blunt in his assessment of United’s movement and intensity. “I’ve never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that,” Neville reflected. “Michael has just said there was nothing wrong with the team’s energy. Michael has got to stop defending them.

“I get why he’s defending them; he’s loyal, he wants his players to work for him, and obviously there’s a long way to go in the season.

“Both teams were the same. I called them mannequins. I’ve never seen a United team walk around as much as that. No alertness, no aliveness. No ‘on your toes.’ You should always be on your toes.”

Neville continued: “Very rarely do I say a team doesn’t work hard or is lacking in effort. That’s the ultimate criticism you can give a group of players.

“I’m always very careful to say that, but in those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man Utd and generally for the first 60 minutes, were a genuine disgrace. Nowhere near good enough without the ball.”

Goalscorer Cunha offered a different explanation, pointing to energy rather than effort. “In the beginning of the second half, Fulham put in more energy than us and we cannot accept this,” Cunha said, after United covered six kilometers less than Fulham across the full game.

Limited energy has been an issue for United all season, and the numbers back that up. They rank 20th in time at high intensity, 20th in sprints and 20th in time sprinting, while also sitting 17th for time walking.

Asked if he agreed with Cunha’s view, Carrick was unconvinced. “I don’t, particularly.

“The way we finished the game … it didn’t look like that for me. I was quite happy with the way we finished the game. We kept pushing. I don’t think that’s an issue, no.”

Matheus Cunha rescued a 1-1 draw for Manchester United at Craven Cottage after Lisandro Martínez’s own goal had given Fulham the advantage. It was a result that spared United a defeat, but it did little to calm the criticism that followed a second-half collapse in intensity.

The first half was lively enough without producing a goal, with United showing occasional fluency through quick passing and tidy combinations. After the interval, though, the level dropped sharply. That decline became the major talking point of the afternoon, especially after Gary Neville described the 15 minutes after halftime as the “worst” he’d ever seen his club play since he started watching the Red Devils as a 5-year-old in 1980.

Michael Carrick will take the point, but the performance against one of the Premier League’s early strugglers raised more questions than answers. United looked most dangerous when speed entered their play, yet that rhythm was too infrequent to control the contest for long.

Marcus Rashford’s display summed up the frustration. Having lost some of the momentum that followed his reintegration, the England international wasted several promising openings and never found the conviction United needed. His lack of intensity in front of goal matched the wider drop-off in the team’s attacking cohesion.

There were brighter individual showings. Senne Lammens impressed in the first half despite limited success with Fulham’s goal, while Bruno Fernandes came close to scoring when he struck the post. Kobbie Mainoo also maintained his standards before being withdrawn late on, and Cunha finished with a decisive contribution after earlier involvement in the goal sequence at the other end.

In the end, United left with a draw that felt more like a warning than a recovery.

Benjamin Šeško was absent from Manchester United’s squad for the trip to Fulham after Michael Carrick confirmed the striker is being assessed over an unspecified injury.

Carrick had managed Šeško carefully at the start of the season, using him as a substitute in United’s first four Premier League matches. The 23-year-old was then fit to start the club’s opening Champions League game of the campaign, where he scored in the win over Sabah FK, and he also featured in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Earlier this month, Šeško had sounded upbeat about his recovery, saying: “I think waiting a little bit longer was a great decision, and now it’s healed, so it’s perfect,” Šeško insisted earlier this month.

Carrick’s latest update offered little clarity on the situation. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “He pulled up after the game the other day with a little bit of pain, so we’ll have to see how he is,” was all the Manchester United manager would offer.

In Šeško’s absence, Matheus Cunha kept his place through the middle. That decision left some fans frustrated, particularly with Amad Diallo unavailable on the right and Bryan Mbeumo regularly deployed there instead of being used as a central option.

Cunha brings link play and combines neatly with Bruno Fernandes, but he does not offer the same direct running that Mbeumo provides. Even so, Fulham’s tendency to leave space for opponents this season means United may still find openings without Šeško.

There is also anticipation around Carlos Baleba, who has still not made his Manchester United debut. Signed for $93.7 million (£70 million) and unveiled almost a month ago, he arrived from Brighton with an ankle injury. His first appearance could be confirmed at Craven Cottage.