Michael Carrick is set to start a homecoming tour with some tough fixtures straight off the bat, so here’s what Carrick’s style of play and tactics look like.
The Michael Carrick who will take charge of Man Utd against Man City to kick off his interim tenure is extremely different from the one who left the club five years ago.
He has had just one managerial job, at Middlesbrough, during that time, and the evaluation of that job changed depending on who you ask.
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Manchester United Coach Michael Carrick celebrates at the end of the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford on December 2, 2021
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What doesn’t change much is Michael Carrick’s style of play and tactics, with him having almost a Ruben Amorim-like faith in his system. Here’s what it looks like in simple terms.
Bruno Fernandes embraces Michael Carrick.
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Michael Carrick style of play and tactics
Carrick’s formation of choice and defensive setup
Carrick, much like Fletcher, is a back-four manager, but how they define player roles in that back four is extremely different.
Fletcher’s style of play has more to do with the wing-backs creating width and the wingers cutting inside, but Carrick is a bit more complex.
At Middlesbrough, he used a lopsided full-back system, with one full-back having full license to support the attack, while the other tucked inside to form a back three in possession.
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Generally, it was the left-sided full-back, which should remain the case at Old Trafford since Patrick Dorgu/Luke Shaw are more suited to the role than Diogo Dalot or Noussair Mazraoui.
He is firmly committed to playing the ball out from the back, so Lisandro Martinez and Ayden Heaven will come in handy, while Leny Yoro will have to polish his skills on the ball when pressed.
Midfield setup
Carrick starts with two defensive midfielders who are tasked with taking the ball from the backline and progressing it forward or carrying it themselves.
Both need to be comfortable on the ball, but having a more well-rounded player can cover some defensive responsibilities as well.
He raised Hayden Hackney’s game at Middlesbrough, but the lack of defensive nous in Hackney and his partner Jonny Howson often left the midfield exposed. Expect that to be a problem at United as well.
What Carrick does well is create passing triangles all over the pitch, which allows the players to invite the press then play through it, finding plenty of space in behind once that happens.
Kobbie Mainoo should find plenty of joy with his short pass-and-move game, while Manuel Ugarte will be more sidelined.
When Carrick took charge of United’s first team for a three-game period, he kept things solid and tried to get positive results, but he came into his own as a progressive, possession-based, attack-minded coach at Middlesbrough.
Expect that to continue when he returns to United.
Attacking setup
Benjamin Sesko will be delighted with Carrick’s arrival, because strikers with a good sense of movement have found plenty of joy in his system.
The trio behind the striker plays close to the No. 9, facilitating link-up plays and lessening the need for the striker to do a lot of grunt work.
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Patrick Dorgu celebrates with his teammates during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United.
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Chuba Akpom found a second wind in his career while playing for Carrick, and he also unleashed Latte Lath’s best scoring season of his professional career under his watch.
Morgan Rogers broke through as a potential superstar after just six months under Carrick’s coaching, so he’s clearly a coach who’s more comfortable coaching attacking patterns and unleashing the best of his attacking talent.
Unlike Amorim, he’s not one to go long and try to catch the opposition out on long balls. Instead, he favours circulating the ball from the front to the back to drag the low block out of position before zipping through them at speed.
This attacking with speed also allows him to balance a methodical possession game with sharp one-touch passes to create scoring opportunities via transitions.
Final view
Overall, Carrick’s style of play and tactics resemble that of a traditional Spanish manager like Xavi more than that of a traditional English style of football.
When it comes off, it looks beautiful to watch, but it needs a high level of technical ability to pull it off, along with a deep understanding of the system.
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To his credit, Carrick adjusts according to his players when he starts at a club, because getting quick results is a theme of his career.
He oversaw wins against Arsenal and Villarreal during his time at United, drawing away at Chelsea.
At Middlesbrough, he worked miracles to take over a squad in a relegation fight and steer them to fourth in the table the same season.
That’s the instant improvement United are also banking on, but for that, he will have to sacrifice some of his principles, like occasionally going long, focusing on set pieces, and defending in a mid-block instead of pressing high.
If he does that, then he’s shown enough to prove that United are getting a more seasoned coach who can get quick results out of this set of players despite their teething problems.
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