The 5-0 win vs Rosenborg will delight Michael Carrick, but it will make him happier because he passed the Man Utd test where two of his predecessors faltered.
Five different goalscorers adorned the scoresheet as Man Utd thrashed Rosenborg 5-0 for their first win of the pre-season.
The Norwegian outfit are in the middle of their season, so they had the edge on fitness, but Michael Carrick’s side dominated them.
More importantly, the way they dominated them bodes well for the club’s prospects under Carrick.
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Michael Carrick is adding crucial layer to Man Utd’s style
Carrick’s results at Old Trafford speak for themselves, but there was some concern last season over how those results were achieved.
United relied largely on deadly transitions, struggling when they had more possession than the opposition.
A passive style of defending was always going to have a ceiling, and Carrick’s style of play is far from that template anyway.
That much is clear after just two pre-season games, as the Man Utd manager has added a front-footed layer to Man Utd’s tactical setup.
Gone is the mid-block and transition reliance, and in its place are short goal-kicks, playing through the press, and pressing from the front in coherent zones with clear triggers.
United are playing like an elite team now instead of a functional outfit that needs to get results in the short-term.
They are playing in the opposition’s half, dominating the ball and territory, and creating chances with their attacking patterns instead of exploiting acres of space on the counter.
If Carrick can take this template into the season and find success with it, he will have passed the Man Utd test where his predecessors failed.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag faltered at this hurdle
It’s not the first time that a Man Utd manager has found results with a simplistic style of football at Old Trafford, before crashing down when trying to evolve it.
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Solskjaer did it until it all unraveled when Cristiano Ronaldo was signed, and Erik ten Hag’s revolution lasted precisely two games before he went into survival mode (losses against Brighton and Brentford to start the season).
Even when he changed it up again in his second season, the results collapsed immediately, and Amorim never found success either.
Carrick managing to make Man Utd tick in a progressive style of football after six months of defending in a mid-block would see him pass the final hurdle at this club.
This evolution has chewed up and spat out the careers of his multiple predecessors. Early signs are that Carrick will clear it.
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