Manchester United's intensity levels are back in the spotlight after their 1-1 draw at Fulham in the Premier League. Matheus Cunha gave a damning view from inside the squad, telling Sky Sports: "They put in more energy than us, we cannot accept this." Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said: "I've never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that." So what do the stats say about United's work-rate at Craven Cottage - and how big a problem is it for Michael Carrick? Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Man Utd rank joint-bottom in the Premier League for high-speed runs, according to Opta.
They are level with Man City on 1691 high-speed runs - but their neighbours played with 10 men for the majority of the derby at Old Trafford, which needs to be factored into their figures. Man Utd spent 52.98 per cent of their time out of possession at Fulham walking. Seven teams have posted a higher figure this term, although it is the highest percentage Man Utd have recorded this season.
United's average for this campaign of 51.13 per cent ranks them 17th in the Premier League. Since the start of last season there have been 30 times a team has spent a greater percentage of time walking out of possession in a Premier League match than Man Utd did at Fulham. That includes the 54.59 per cent United recorded in their 3-0 win at Brighton on the final day of last season.
Man Utd ran 110.2km on Sunday - the second-lowest total of the Premier League weekend, behind Liverpool's 108.4km figure at Bournemouth. United ran 6.5km less than Fulham - the second biggest difference between teams this season when both keep 11 men on the pitch. (Arsenal out-ran Coventry by 6.8km on the opening night of the season). Man Utd have also been out-run in terms of distance by Hull, Ipswich and Everton this season.
Man City - who had Phil Foden sent off after 23 minutes - are the only side United have run further than in the Premier League this term. Man Utd allowed Fulham to start their passing sequences, on average, 36.9m from the United goal. That is the nearest any team allowed their opponents to begin from, on average, in the Premier League this past weekend.
It reflects how United sat deep out of possession at Craven Cottage. Fulham, by contrast, allowed United to start attacks 43.4m from their goal, on average - the third-highest figure of the latest round of matches. In his post-match analysis, Neville referenced Fulham's amount of 10+ passing sequences.
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