The first indication of impending chaos occurred when the back window of the coach tumbled onto the road, shattering under our tires. Leeds supporters had been persistently pounding on it as we followed in a car en route to Old Trafford, and the glass ultimately gave way.

This was on February 28, 1981, marking my initial experience at Old Trafford and the last league triumph for Leeds there, before their recent 2-1 win on Monday night broke a 45-year drought.

Outside the stadium, scenes of mayhem unfolded. More Leeds fans forcefully exited their coaches and buses, clashing with the significantly larger crowd of Manchester United fans, while riot police struggled to regain control.

The 1980s were a turbulent era for football, marked by intense tribalism and rampant hooliganism. Though the sport has evolved since then, the fierce rivalry between Manchester United and Leeds United remains charged with a dangerous intensity.

As recently as 2023, both clubs denounced the conduct of their fans at Elland Road, where they exchanged taunts regarding the Munich Air Disaster and the tragic deaths of two Leeds fans in Istanbul in 2000, preceding a UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray.

Fortunately, Monday at Old Trafford was devoid of such controversies. Leeds fans were in full voice, passionately supporting Daniel Farke’s team to a historic victory, a result that could be pivotal in securing their Premier League status. With an FA Cup semi-final appearance for the first time since the 80s also on the horizon, their current spirits couldn’t be higher.

Leeds have always had a ‘everybody hates us and we don’t care’ attitude, but the truth is that the Premier League will only benefit if they beat relegation. And, like it or not, Manchester United need Leeds just as Leeds need Manchester United; the team the other loves to hate.

It is one of English football’s enduring rivalries, and as long as it stays on the right side of the line, English football is all the better for it.

Manchester United and Leeds fans need each other – this is one of English football’s great rivalries 

Carrick loses at the wrong time  

Just when Manchester United looked to be coasting into the Champions League, and Michael Carrick into a long-term appointment at Old Trafford, along came Leeds to sow some seeds of doubt.

Carrick’s first home defeat shouldn’t be too much of a setback if United can get back to winning ways at Chelsea on Saturday. Champions League qualification is very much theirs to lose.

But a run of one win in four games is cause for concern, and it was a bad time to suffer a shock defeat against Leeds in front of co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Ineos billionaire is known to be impulsive at times.

It’s unclear what United’s plan was when they put Carrick in charge until the end of the season, and how much that has changed due to the progress he has made in a short period of time.

The sensible option would still seem to be to keep him in charge. One result shouldn’t change that, but four of them might offer some food for thought – and so could any more wobbles in the remaining six games of the season.

Having described it as the ‘ultimate job’ before the Leeds game, Carrick doesn’t want to give Ratcliffe any more encouragement to re-assess his options.

Michael Carrick picked the wrong time to lose with Sir Jim Ratcliffe watching on at Old Trafford

Why it was better not to play…

The two Manchester United players to emerge with most credit from a sobering 2-1 defeat to Leeds were Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo.

Maguire was suspended and Mainoo injured, meaning they were missing from Michael Carrick’s starting line-up for the first time in 11 games and, fortunately for them, by far the worst display under the head coach.

Without Maguire, United struggled to contain the physical threat of Dominic Calvert-Lewin who forced Leny Yoro into an error for the first goal (illegally in Carrick’s view) and then drew a red card from Lisandro Martinez for pulling his hair (the wrong decision again, according to Carrick).

Paul Scholes suggested last week that United should sell Yoro this summer. There is no chance of that, but it did raise an interesting point. The young Frenchman struggles with the muck-and-nettles side of the English game, and needs to be more resilient.

If Maguire’s suspension is extended and both he and Martinez miss Saturday’s trip to Chelsea, Liam Rosenior would be wise to unleash Liam Delap on Yoro, particularly if he is playing alongside another young central defender in Ayden Heaven.

Meanwhile, Mainoo’s absence meant a rare opportunity for Manuel Ugarte. It’s fair to say the Uruguayan didn’t take it. Ugarte, signed from France the same summer as Yoro for a similar fee of around £50million, does not have the same level of support among the United hierarchy as his teammate and is expected to be sold at the end of the season.

It means United will be in the market for two central midfielders after deciding not to renew Casemiro’s contract – a move that continues to divide opinion despite the Brazilian’s astronomical earnings.

Casemiro’s goal against Leeds was his eighth of the season, and he went closest to an equaliser as well. It was a poor reflection on United’s attackers that the team’s biggest threat was a 34-year-old midfielder currently on a farewell tour.

It’s just as well the club are close to agreeing new terms with Mainoo over a new contract, or they could have been looking for three midfielders this summer. Without his mobility on Monday night, Casemiro and Ugarte were badly exposed.

The form that Mainoo and Maguire have been in under Carrick makes it all the more peculiar that United have taken so long to tie them down to new deals.

Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte were badly exposed in this defeat – they missed Kobbie Mainoo

The worrying sign for England 

Dominic Calvert-Lewin could hardly have been more of a handful for United at Old Trafford – quite literally when it came to Martinez grabbing his hair – but his performance also underlined the problem facing Thomas Tuchel this summer.

How England would cope without Harry Kane is a nagging question going into the World Cup, and there doesn’t appear to be an obvious answer. Does Tuchel rely on another centre-forward like Calvert-Lewin and Ollie Watkins, or go for a false nine from among the other attacking options available to him?

World Cup referees are unlikely to be so lenient as Paul Tierney towards Calvert-Lewin’s challenge on Yoro before Okafor’s opening goal, or even the flailing arm that led to Martinez pulling his hair.

As troublesome as he was, Calvert-Lewin was guilty of two glaring misses in front of goal when he aimed straight at Senne Lammens from Gabriel Gudmundsson’s cross in the opening minutes and then headed into the United keeper’s arms from close-range in the second half. In fact his single most important contribution of the night was a goal-line clearance from Casemiro.

The 29-year-old has been in good form this season, but hasn’t scored in his last six Premier League games. The two chances he squandered at Old Trafford didn’t cost Leeds in the end, but that kind of wastefulness could be very damaging to England.