Michael Carrick restoring Kobbie Mainoo to Man Utd’s first XI is a mistake corrected, but how he’s using him shows his tactical mastery compared to Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim.
Kobbie Mainoo was again paired alongside Casemiro in a defensive midfield pivot in Man Utd’s 3-2 win against Arsenal.
After proving Ruben Amorim wrong with a complete defensive display against City, Mainoo went one better in a more difficult game against Arsenal.
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Amorim never really trusted him, but in two games, Michael Carrick has turned even Erik ten Hag’s Mainoo fear and turned it into Man Utd’s secret weapon.
Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick reacts at the end of the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium in 2026 in London, England.
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Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim shared Kobbie Mainoo fear
Mainoo was given his breakthrough by Ten Hag, and his development stalled under Amorim, so he probably remembers both managers very differently.
However, both Ten Hag and Amorim shared a single fear about Mainoo, and it resulted in both of them coming to the same conclusion about the player.
Amorim said Mainoo was good in small spaces, so he was suited to one of the No. 10 roles in his system more than as a defensive midfielder.
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Ten Hag played Mainoo as a defensive midfielder, but in name only, as he also thought Mainoo’s gifts were further forward.
More importantly, this conclusion stemmed from the same fear they both shared, which is that Mainoo’s dribbling game could see him lose possession, which is deadly near the team’s goal, but manageable near the opponent’s goal.
Therefore, they both shifted Mainoo further forward. Under Amorim, it meant he competed with Bruno Fernandes, and under Ten Hag, it meant Casemiro defended an island of space on his own.
Their greatest fear about Mainoo was his propensity to go on dribbles with the ball. Carrick has turned it into United’s secret weapon.
Michael Carrick saw Mainoo’s greatest strength in ‘weakness’
It’s ironic that both Ten Hag and Amorim said they can’t play at Old Trafford the way they did at their previous clubs, and it had to do with struggles in the buildup phase.
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That is because they both moved United’s release valve further forward because they were too afraid of losing balls in buildup.
Carrick identified Mainoo’s strength of beating his man off the dribble, and used what Amorim and Ten Hag saw as his weakness, and turned it into his side’s heartbeat.
Under Carrick, Mainoo collects the ball in deeper areas and drives forward by skipping past challenges.
In just two games, it has led to a point where Arsenal refused to press United because they knew a single pass or dribble could cut through them.
Mainoo is a big part of why United’s buildup is feared again, and Carrick achieved it by using his close-quarter skills where they are best utilised.
Perhaps it’s poetic that a calm and classy midfielder in Mainoo is finally being used correctly by a manager who was the personification of calm and classy during his playing career.
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