Michael Carrick has brought back the winning feeling at Manchester United, but a recent three-goal pattern proves his impact has gone much deeper than that.
The winning run of Manchester United has been stopped in its tracks by West Ham United in a 1-1 draw, courtesy of Benjamin Sesko’s late equaliser.
However, zoom out, and 13 points from 15, including wins against Man City and Arsenal, means that Michael Carrick has surpassed all expectations.
How many points will Man Utd get from the next five games? Let’s hear your predictions/hopes…
Michael Carrick took 13 points from his first five…
That alone gives him a lot of credit, but a certain pattern has emerged in those games that proves he has solved Ruben Amorim’s biggest tactical flaw.
Michael Carrick reviving key trait of Man Utd DNA
Carrick has already brought many facets of the “United DNA” back to the club, be it trusting Kobbie Mainoo as the academy graduate, attacking football, or just winning games.
“Youth. Courage. Success.” is the foundation of United’s DNA, and Carrick understands this perfectly.
More than just paying it lip service, he has shown it on the pitch by reviving a key trait of this DNA, which defined Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford.
Under Carrick, United have scored three late goals worth a combined five points – Matheus Cunha’s winner against Arsenal, Sesko vs Fulham, and Sesko again vs West Ham.
It can be easily written off as luck, but Carrick has made his own luck by being proactive and daring with his substitutions.
He has thrown the kitchen sink at these games when he sensed an opportunity to better the result, and he has been rewarded.
On another day, United will get counter-attacked and lose a game they were drawing, or lose heavily when they could have equalised, but the United way demands that proactiveness.
That right there was Amorim’s biggest tactical flaw, and it led to some extremely embarrassing results.
Ruben Amorim’s biggest tactical flaw was also philosophical
Carrick can’t be deemed lucky when he’s making his own luck, especially as Amorim refused to do the same when he was manager.
What did Michael Carrick get right with his game management vs West Ham?
The loss against Everton comes to mind, where United couldn’t break down a ten-man opponent for more than half the game, as they continued to play three centre-backs who had nobody to mark.
It becomes all the more baffling because Amorim created his own luck, too, when he dared to be proactive.
The win against Lyon at Old Trafford last season in the Europa League was a result of throwing the kitchen sink at it.
Amorim could clearly do it, but only did so when he had no other choice, which means he was a risk-averse manager who would take risks only when he was backed into a corner.
For a Man Utd manager, taking risks should be the default state, not a last-resort gamble, and therein lay a fundamental philosophical difference between his idea and the United way.
Carrick’s three-goal pattern in just five games proves he’s more aligned to that way than Amorim ever was, and fixed his predecessor’s biggest tactical flaw in the process.
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