Alexis Mac Allister has offered a blunt assessment of Liverpool’s recent past, saying “something wasn’t right” in the squad under Arne Slot before praising the impact of the Dutchman’s successor, Andoni Iraola, for correcting it.

Liverpool began the 2025-26 campaign strongly enough to disguise deeper problems, but those issues were closely tied to the tragic death of Diogo Jota the previous summer. The team’s form then unravelled badly, eventually producing their worst run of results since the rationing period in the United Kingdom after the Second World War.

Even after repeatedly insisting his job was secure, Slot was still dismissed once he had done enough to secure Champions League qualification. Iraola, who had finished one place behind Liverpool with Bournemouth on far fewer resources, was appointed soon afterwards.

The transition has not been seamless. Liverpool have moved away from the control-first approach of the previous regime and towards the more chaotic style associated with Iraola. The progress has not followed a straight line, but the overall trend has been upwards.

Mac Allister underlined that change after scoring twice in Tuesday’s 4-3 Champions League win over Villarreal. “Something wasn’t right in the group and this manager changed it,” he told Amazon Prime. “The way we play is different, I don’t like to compare,” he added, while making a fairly stark comparison.

Iraola himself acknowledged there were issues to address when he arrived. “When I came here, the owners told me everything is not perfect,” he admitted.

Defensive structure had clearly been one of the main concerns. Liverpool’s total of 53 Premier League goals conceded was their worst in the competition since 1993-94.

Iraola’s answer has been a major tactical overhaul. Instead of organising Liverpool around set zones within a defined shape, he has asked them to press opponents directly in a man-to-man system.

“Now it’s more man-to-man,” Mac Allister explained. “You have to communicate less. Last year, it was more like a zonal thing. I like both. In the national team, we do zonal and it works. It’s about us taking the responsibility. It’s one of the changes. Now it’s easier, you think less but run more.”

Lisandro Martínez’s latest setback has put Manchester United in another holding pattern, with the defender’s condition still uncertain after he was withdrawn at half-time in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United at Elland Road.

The Argentina international started the game but did not come out for the second half, as United adjusted their shape after the interval. Ayden Heaven was already unavailable because of illness, and the team appeared to move to a back three when Martínez was replaced by returning fullback Noussair Mazraoui.

After the match, Michael Carrick said Martínez had “felt his thigh a little bit.” That brief assessment suggested caution rather than alarm, with no immediate indication that the issue was severe. Carrick also offered no further details, leaving the club to wait for a fuller update when he next speaks to reporters on Tuesday.

The timing matters, with United due to face Como in the Champions League on Wednesday. At this stage, it seems difficult to imagine Martínez being pushed into that match so soon after coming off against Leeds. If the problem is minor and carefully managed, he could be back in contention relatively quickly. The more realistic short-term target may be Bournemouth, when the Premier League schedule resumes on Sunday.

Martínez’s injury record since arriving from Ajax in the summer of 2022 remains a significant concern. Across his first four years at the club, he made 110 appearances in all competitions, averaging fewer than 28 a season. Transfermarkt estimates that he has spent a total of 632 days sidelined in that period.

For now, United are waiting for the next update, with the hope that this is another brief interruption rather than something more serious.

Michael Carrick has said he is keen to see which players in his squad are “really there” as Manchester United try to steady a poor start to the season.

United’s victory over Sabah on Sept. 10 in the opening round of Champions League fixtures has been one of only two wins they have recorded so far. With a difficult trip to the Metropolitano next on the schedule, Carrick’s side could now go five matches without a win.

That possibility sits in sharp contrast to the opening stage of Carrick’s first spell in charge, when his early months were followed by a far more encouraging run. United never went more than two games without victory during his interim period, but they have already moved beyond that point now.

Carrick used his pre-match press conference to frame the challenge in positive terms, insisting the difficult spell can reveal who is truly committed to the group.

“I love this part, sometimes when it’s not quite going for you, you see who’s really there, you see within the group, the players, the squad, the club, who’s really there and who wants to be here for the long term,” Carrick told his prematch press conference.

“[You see who is] really attached to it and [who it] really means something [to].

“The supporters are there, they’re desperate for it, and we’ve got to give them something. I think you’ve got to embrace the challenges to get to where you want to be. We’re right there now in the middle of it, but totally believe that we’ll work through it.”

United’s current position is a reminder of how quickly fortunes can turn. The club enjoyed a very different mood during the second half of the 2025–26 campaign, when Carrick’s first six months led to questions over why he had not been appointed permanently sooner.

Even so, United have been here before. It was only in January 2025 that Ruben Amorim’s side went five matches without a win, a run that included defeats to Tottenham, Bournemouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United before a 2–2 draw away at Liverpool brought it to an end.