I was at the game on Saturday and it was clear early on that Manchester United were not at the races against Hull City. Words will be bandied towards Michael Carrick's side this week until their home game against Ipswich on Sunday; for example, a lack of intensity, aggression and intent on display. But when I left Hull, I just felt it was a bit more nuanced than that.

It was a bad performance, for sure. Carrick's side didn't perform, and only he will truly know why, but from the off it was quite clear some of his main players are not quite up to match sharpness compared to where they will be in a few weeks. Six of Carrick's first-team players did have a full pre-season. But Carrick also had a new midfield duo playing together in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos. Off the bench, he had players nowhere near full fitness in Benjamin Sesko (has not played a minute of pre-season), as well as Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford, who have had limited minutes since returning from England duty in the summer.

Hull also deserve enormous credit for being a well-drilled outfit for their first Premier League game in nine years. I am more than willing, and Carrick has more than deserved, somewhat of a pass for the Hull result, and I would be extremely surprised if United were not considerably improved against Ipswich Town on Sunday.

The midfield was Manchester United's priority going into the season and they have gone some way to addressing it by spending over £150m in reinforcements, with Carlos Baleba the latest addition. But United find themselves in a similar situation to last summer - reinforcing your greatest need just highlights your next biggest gap within the squad.