There is one person to blame for the mess Man United are in, it’s not Michael Carrick

The tricky position Manchester United find themselves in, with six points from six games and their worst start to a league campaign in 40 years, will rightfully have supporters asking questions.

Chief among them: do INEOS really mean well for this team? If so, they must change a few things.

One area they need to rethink is their transfer strategy. Their determination not to overpay for targets, and to secure the best deals for players who genuinely want to join, deserves to be commended.

Their other approach, targeting Premier League talent for immediate impact, is paying off and proving a sound tactic.

As a result, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha arrived and immediately raised the team's level. Youri Tielemans is harder to judge, having produced both strong and poor performances, so it is too early for a verdict.

Meanwhile, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba are yet to enjoy a sustained run of games that would show what they are really about. If everything clicks, these Premier League recruits should come in handy for the Red Devils, and that is what gives fans hope in that strategy.

Yet while United are building a stronger squad with a largely decent plan, one transfer idea is holding them back.

Bolstering one position each summer is proving a blunder in their squad planning. Instead of addressing real areas of concern, INEOS bolsters one position at a time, hoping to build a stronger team over time.

But how strong a side can you build when you are hell-bent on ignoring serious needs to stick to a predetermined plan? Last year, for example, former Man United head coach Ruben Amorim badly needed athletic midfielders, yet INEOS opted to strengthen the attack and made no effort to sign a midfielder.

They chose to pause that transfer need and revisit it a year later.

So you wait twelve months to address an obvious need, and other problems arise in the meantime.

Like other than bolstering the midfield, this summer, United also needed to reinforce the defence as well as the very attack they strengthened last year.

However, INEOS left those areas unaddressed because they were not part of the big summer plan.

Now the attack is suffering, with natural striker Benjamin Šeško out injured and likely to be sidelined for a lengthy spell, possibly requiring surgery. In defence, the team could have benefited from a top centre-back signing; the porous backline has been frustrating.

Still, at centre-back, one can argue it is about finding the right partnerships, given the many options there. However, the same cannot be said of left-back.

All of Luke Shaw 's back-ups are injured, and he himself was limping after the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. Clearly, the side needed another reliable left-back.

It is a tricky situation for the Red Devils, and one they will keep finding themselves in unless they are bold enough to address their real transfer needs rather than follow a plan that fails to solve them.