Michael Carrick might just have played a media masterclass by using a Bruno Fernandes moment to silence those who argue against his permanent appointment.
The spectre of Michael Carrick becoming the permanent Man Utd manager gets larger and larger with every convincing win.
The latest was a 2-0 victory over Spurs, where Man Utd firmly pinned the opposition back and expertly broke down their stubborn resistance.
Are you confident Man Utd will win vs West Ham and end the losing streak at the London Stadium?
Bruno Fernandes scored a goal, but Carrick was more interested in a moment from his captain, which he used to silence doubters about his permanent appointment.
Michael Carrick breaks down Bruno Fernandes’ role
To the naked eye, what Carrick is doing with the team is pretty simple, as he has just put the players back in their preferred positions.
However, that level of simplicity is taking credit away from Carrick, because even Erik ten Hag played players in their natural positions, but couldn’t save his job.
In the lead-up to the West Ham game, Carrick was asked about a Bruno Fernandes moment against Spurs when the player asked to swap to the right, having played on the left to start with.
The point was about creative freedom, playing into the idea of Carrick letting the players figure out solutions on the pitch.
It directly feeds into the notion that the manager is not doing anything tactically, an idea that Carrick quickly shut down with a firm answer.
He said: “There is [creative freedom] within reason as long as we carry out the roles properly. It’s not totally free flow where you can go wherever you decide.
“Bruno understands different roles. It gives us variety. They are all suited to different kinds of roles. Flexibility helps us as long as we look after positions when we don’t have the ball.”
Carrick is masterfully playing his cards
It has been covered before how Carrick knows the narrative he is fighting to get the permanent job, as the shadow of Solskjaer hovers above him.
Michael Carrick is just another Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with better players: __ % AGREE
Fill in the blank. Is Carrick actually a better coach, or are we falling for the same trap again?
By instantly shutting down a “free-for-all” idea in the attacking third, he took control of the narrative back in his hands and made sure that people know he’s implemented a structure.
Solskjaer would often talk in intangible platitudes like “effort”, “desire,” and the good players he had, distributing credit so much that he ended up hurting his stock.
As soon as the question of Fernandes having full creative freedom under Carrick was put to him, the interim manager stressed the importance of a structure first.
Right now, he’s balancing the scale of giving players credit while maintaining his tactical control of the team perfectly.
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