Manchester United's lackluster goalless draw against Sunderland has raised serious questions about squad depth, with BBC Radio Manchester's Gaz Drinkwater suggesting the performance exposed players who simply "are not good enough" for the club. The match at the Stadium of Light on Saturday saw Michael Carrick ring the changes—making five alterations to the side that had beaten Liverpool just a week earlier—but the result was a worrying display that nearly saw United fail to register a single shot on target in a Premier League game for the first time since January 2015. Only a late injury-time effort from Matheus Cunha, saved by Sunderland's Robin Roefs, spared that ignominy.

"It's always a concern when a team wants it more than Manchester United, especially when this isn't a Sunderland team that is fighting for anything themselves," Drinkwater said on The Devils' Advocate podcast. "They looked like a better team than us. We shifted things around in the pack, and what it did prove was there were a few players out there who had question marks over their head as to whether they can be used at Manchester United as squad depth, and those question marks are turning into big crosses against their names."

Drinkwater pointed to specific underperformers, including Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount, who failed to seize their opportunity. "One game isn't going to fully convince me of that, but there are concerns around the likes of Zirkzee and now around the likes of Mount, who didn't cover himself in glory," he added. "Maybe this was done deliberately by Carrick, looking to next season and thinking, 'Let's give these a chance to prove themselves'—or show the hierarchy they are not good enough. Some of them fell into that second category."

For a club of Manchester United's stature, the draw against a mid-table Sunderland side with little at stake is a stark reminder that squad rotation can expose weaknesses. As the season winds down, these performances will undoubtedly influence summer transfer plans—and for some players, the clock may be ticking on their Old Trafford futures.