Gary Neville thinks former Manchester United and England teammate Michael Carrick took a huge risk with one call in the Premier League match against Brentford.
Michael Carrick inched Manchester United one step closer to securing a return to the Champions League competition for the 2026-27 campaign at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils were in action at Old Trafford on Monday evening and Man Utd defeated Brentford 2-1 to chalk up an important three Premier League points.
Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko were the difference-makers on the night after the United duo netted against Brentford in the first half of the Premier League clash.
Michael Carrick now has more wins than Ruben Amorim this season in seven fewer games! What does this tell you…?
Gary Neville on Michael Carrick’s tactical change during the Premier League match between Man Utd and Brentford
Manchester United led Brentford 2-0 at the break and Michael Carrick effectively rolled the dice with a major formation change for the second half of the tie.
The Red Devils had been playing in a 4-2-3-1 set-up in the first half before Carrick withdrew Amad Diallo and replaced him with Noussair Mazraoui after the break.
United started to play with a system similar to the one that Ruben Amorim had tried to integrate into the Red Devils over the course of his 14-month reign at the club.
During the Premier League match, Gary Neville admitted that he could “already see the headlines” if Carrick’s Ruben Amorim-esque tactics failed to work on the night.
“It’s very much the same system Amorim used,” he said on Sky Sports.
“Brave move from Michael Carrick because if this change went wrong, you could already see the headlines.
“But in the initial five minutes, they do look like they’ve prevented Brentford from going through them as easily and still counter-attacking.”
Who was your Manchester United man of the match vs Brentford?
Michael Carrick on why he changed Man Utd’s formation during the Premier League match against Brentford
Carrick pivoted away from the four-man backline and echoed shades to when Man Utd would have a three or five-man backline at times under Ruben Amorim’s system.
The United legend admitted that he was happy with how the tactical change played out for the Red Devils, despite his side conceding late in the second half.
“We tweaked things [in the] second half and, for the most part, had decent control,” he said, as per Manchester United’s official website.
“I thought the spirit and effort [were] fantastic. We could’ve scored more, but, at this time of year, it’s a results business.
“We were going to make it anyway and then we scored the second goal. There were just certain spaces that we needed to cover better.
“It was purely a tactical decision. In the position we were in at half-time, we wanted to see the game through.”
Carrick was installed as interim head coach back in January after Man Utd axed Amorim from his managerial role at the Premier League club.
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