Ruben Amorim didn’t have many success stories at Man Utd, but even the one he had has been unleashed to another level by Michael Carrick.
The usual suspects are all clear by now when it comes to those players in the Man Utd squad who have been lifted by Michael Carrick’s arrival.
From Kobbie Mainoo to Bruno Fernandes, Carrick has given these players what Ruben Amorim didn’t.
However, even one player who Amorim could count upon as his success story is finding another level under Carrick’s tutelage.
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Ruben Amorim made Luke Shaw a reliable option again
Luke Shaw is on pace to finish an Iron Man season for Man Utd, starting all 38 league games for the first time for the club.
At the start of the season, if Man Utd fans were asked to name a player who’d do that, Shaw’s name would probably be somewhere near the bottom of that list.
That’s why Ruben Amorim deserves credit for making Shaw a reliable option again, finding a place for him as the left-sided centre-back in his back-three setup.
Shaw’s best qualities at his peak, which were his dynamism and final-third threat, were curtailed, but it was seen as a necessary cost to put him back on the pitch again.
For whatever it’s worth, Shaw said that he liked playing full-back, but the wide centre-back role was allowing him to manage his workload.
Shaw wasn’t flashy, but even being regularly functional meant Amorim’s change had worked. United finally had Shaw playing regularly.
That was considered a success story under Amorim, but Carrick has come in and made a mockery of even those standards.
Michael Carrick has truly unleashed Shaw
Shaw took time to get going under Carrick, effectively still playing as a wide centre-back for the first few games despite being a full-back.
Do Manchester United need to replace Luke Shaw this summer?
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It was thought that Shaw’s fitness was coming at the hidden cost of his dynamism, but the recent games have proven it wrong.
It was simply a case of reframing his mindset, which he has done now to great effect.
The goal against Forest was just reward for his increasingly adventurous playing style in recent games, as he has brought back the overlapping version that thrilled the fans at Southampton more than a decade ago.
That has changed the dynamics of the whole team, as Matheus Cunha is able to play as an inside forward since Shaw overlaps to hold width regularly.
Carrick’s use of Shaw proves that not even Amorim’s success story was playing at his best. The standards were lowered to such a degree that simply playing felt like an improvement.
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