Michael Carrick is in talks with Manchester United over the caretaker head coach position at Old Trafford. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Wire)placeholder image
Michael Carrick is in talks with Manchester United over the caretaker head coach position at Old Trafford. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
Man United fans have been demanding that Ruben Amorim change his formation for months, the appointment of Michael Carrick will finally see this come true.
One of the strengths of Sir Alex Ferguson’s time in charge of Manchester United was his ability to adapt, to move with the times, but still have an underlying philosophy.
The philosophy was simply to win. To be aggressive, to play on the front foot, to score goals and to take risks when goals were needed knowing that fortune favoured the brave. And it worked, more often than not. Michael Carrick’s appointment as United’s new head coach/manager sees the latest Ferguson protégé attempt to replicate his old mentor’s success and fortunes in the Old Trafford dugout.
Who will benefit from Michael Carrick formation change?
Carrick is well respected as a coach, however, he will still be up against it trying to turn round what isn’t an easy situation given United’s form and the players that he has at his disposal. It is a far cry from the team that Carrick played in and won both the Premier League and Champions League with. How he could do with a player of his own ability sitting dictating play in front of the back four. What will help, is a change of formation that better suits the players at his disposal. At Middlesbrough, he deployed a 4-2-3-1 for over 90% of the games that he was in charge for and it would be a surprise to see him deviate too for from this formula.
It is a system that could see Kobbie Mainoo play more minutes after trying, twice, to force Ruben Amorim’s hand and to get a loan move away from United. The England international won’t be a quick fix or instant cure to all his club’s troubles, but he will give something for the fans to believe in. Another who could benefit is Bruno Fernandes. Amorim insisted on playing his captain in a deeper role and yet he has always done his best work in the final third. With United short of goals and creativity, having Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Fernandes as a three behind Benjamin Sesko could cause opposition teams more problems.
Carrick already has the right United mentality
Carrick, despite appreciating possession-based performance, appreciates that winning, the United Way, is everything, via The Athletic: “I much prefer winning a game playing great football and scoring a lot of goals,” Carrick told reporters, quite early in his Middlesbrough days, “but it’s impossible to do that every week. Even the best football teams in history have had certain games where they’ve found a way to win.
“It’s a real skill, a real talent to be able to do that. You talk about talent in terms of ability and passes and all that, but actually talent is a lot of different things. Sometimes that talent is to dig in, to be tough, find something extra. It’s that drive, mentality. To me, that’s still talent.”
Qualities that have been sadly lacking for far too long. Carrick now has five months to impress and to make the United job his own, regardless of style, if he is winning, he might just get the job.
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