The international break has ended, but Man Utd and Michael Carrick will need to wait more than a week before their next game.
FA Cup and Champions League games mean that Man Utd will be sitting on the sidelines as players rush back from international duty to resume club action.
Michael Carrick will instead take his side to Ireland for an intense training camp, but he’ll do so in happy spirits despite United being out of action for almost 24 days.
That is because his biggest wish during the international break came true.
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Michael Carrick welcomes back a fully fit international crop
Carrick is not being given enough credit for walking into a job that effectively gave him a 17-game gauntlet to prove himself.
Ahead of this international break, he had won seven of his ten games, losing just once, putting the team in a position to qualify for the Champions League.
Now, with seven games remaining in the season, his biggest wish would have been for his players to come through this international break unscathed.
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That’s exactly what has happened, with the whole international crop returning to Old Trafford fully fit and raring to go.
Not just that, but players like Manuel Ugarte found life for Uruguay, while Noussair Mazraoui got some precious minutes in his legs.
Others, like Bruno Fernandes, picked up for Portugal from where they left off for United to further delight Carrick.
With a seven-game finale to end the season, the squad couldn’t have been in better shape, because players like Mason Mount and Lisandro Martinez have benefited from the break to return to action as well.
Man Utd will focus on squad depth in the summer
It’s a boost for Carrick to have all his players back from the break fully fit, but having this worry in the first place shows how shallow the Man Utd squad is.
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Kobbie Mainoo playing for England against Uruguay
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The dip in quality from starters to rotation players is immense, and that is just not sustainable next season.
United will be playing in four competitions next season, so they will have to focus on squad depth, either by buying new starters who push the current ones down or by buying squad players.
All the focus is on the marquee names, but the true test of United’s squad will come when those names will need resting amid the four-competition gauntlet.
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