Manchester United fans are used to the positive impact of the new manager bounce.
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from Jose Mourinho in 2018, he won 10 of his first 11 games in charge, a run which helped land him the United manager’s job on a permanent basis.
After Solskjaer’s reign ended following an ignominious 4-1 defeat at Watford in November 2021, Michael Carrick took charge for three games and remained undefeated, drawing at Chelsea and beating Arsenal at home.
And when Ruud van Nistelrooy took the reigns for four games last year following the departure of Erik ten Hag, the prolific former United striker was also unbeaten in his four-game spell, winning three of them.
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Ex-United midfielder Carrick has returned to take temporary charge of United in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s sacking and has maintained his impressive record in charge of the Red Devils, lifting the cloud of gloom that had settled over Old Trafford with two stunning victories over local rivals Manchester City and Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Carrick’s impact has been nothing short of revelatory - players who looked lethargic and lacked focus are now re-energised and sharp, the style of play and tactics that were so staid and negative under Amorim have given way to an attacking vibrancy, underpinned by a solid defensive structure, and United have moved their way into the top four, a Champions League place firmly within their sights.
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But how has Carrick, an unassuming, laconic character, whose only other managerial spell, at Middlesbrough, ended with him getting the sack last summer after successive finishes outside the Championship play-off places, transformed United in little over a fortnight and breathed new life into what looked to have been a moribund season?
Those within the United set-up say Carrick has brought a calmness and assurance to the manager’s role, unlike the chaos and emotionally-charged approach of Amorim, which served only to alienate and disillusion players, with his unwillingness to switch from his controversial 3-4-3 system, to which the United squad was wholly unsuited, was a key factor in his undoing after just 14 months in charge.
Where there was a lack of desire under Amorim, there is a new-found intensity among the players with Carrick in charge, more aggression in their defending and - crucially - players playing in their preferred positions, where they feel most comfortable and are able to play to their strengths.
Kobbie Mainoo, criminally ignored by Amorim, has made his first Premier League starts of the season under Carrick, his impressive displays in central midfield underlining the folly of his former manager’s refusal to play him, while skipper Bruno Fernandes is able to showcase his formidable attacking prowess in the No.10 role, rather than find his creative instincts shackled in a deeper-lying midfield role alongside Casemiro.
Kobbie Mainoo’s future remains the subject of speculation
Kobbie Mainoo has come in from the cold under Michael Carrick(Martin Rickett/PA)
Reverting to a back four in a 4-2-3-1 formation has given United greater consistency and and solidity in their defending, while pushing Patrick Dorgu - who scored with a stunning strike in Sunday’s breathless 3-2 win at Arsenal - further forward as a left winger, relieving him of his defensive duties and allowing him to showcase his impressive athleticism and attacking threat, proved a masterstroke from Carrick.
On the training pitch, one of the first things Carrick sought to address was the length of the sessions, opting for shorter periods with greater intensity, ensuring the players are focused throughout and do not allow their minds to wander.
The consensus from the squad was that Amorim’s sessions were too long and they were overloaded with too much technical detail.
Carrick has gone the other way, keeping the sessions short and sharp, but stressing the importance of total focus during them.
After Carrick’s first training session in charge, United’s players felt there was a different energy around the group, and were impressed with the methods of his coaching team of Steve Holland, Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans and Travis Binnion.
Jonny Evans came under particular fire from Keane
Jonny Evans is part of the interim regime at Manchester United(Martin Rickett/PA)
Those who have witnessed the sessions first-hand say the skill-sets of all the coaches complement each other, with each one bringing a different dynamic to the set-up and a strong bond developing between them and the players.
While Amorim would often cut a solitary figure and walk away from the squad during training sessions, leaving his coaches to take charge, Carrick, Holland, Woodgate, Evans and Binnion are all hands-on with the coaching, with an emphasis on working with individual players on specific aspects of their game, an approach which has yielded immediate results, with United’s upturn in form and performance level in their last two games.
Having played for United for 12 years, making 464 appearances and winning five Premier League titles, the Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup, Carrick knows what it takes to be a successful player at the Theatre of Dreams.
And while Amorim’s candour and willingness to speak his mind was a gift for the media, even once admitting his United side was probably the worst in the club’s storied history, Carrick is smarter than that and has sought to remind the players what a privilege it is to pull on the iconic red shirt and play for arguably the world’s biggest club.
Solskajer adopted a similar approach when he took charge, addressing a perceived drop in standards by issuing new rules such as players wearing official club suits and ties on match days, while Carrick, who also played under the no-nonsense management of Sir Alex Ferguson, has embodied the same ethos, with United sources revealing how the 44-year-old is constantly reminding players - and staff - of how fortunate they are to represent such a huge club and to enjoy and embrace that feeling.
Carrick has also made subtle tweaks to United’s match day routine, such as the squad arriving at stadiums later than they did under Amorim, so there is less hanging around for the players and less time for nervous energy to build ahead of kick-off. But what has impressed the United hierarchy the most is the calm authority Carrick has brought to the role since being appointed until the end of the season.
After last Sunday’s epic win at the Emirates Stadium, Carrick remained true to his character - measured and grounded, refusing to get carried away or make bold statements, despite his United side having just won back-to-back games against the top two sides in the country.
Matheus Cunha celebrates his dramatic late winner against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium
Matheus Cunha celebrates his dramatic late winner against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium(Mike Egerton/PA)
He stressed the need to focus on the next game - at home to Fulham on Sunday - and for everyone to guard against being swept in the wave of euphoria that has washed over the club and its fans following two seismic wins that have turned around a season that had promised so little.
Unlike their rivals for the Champions League places, United have no European fixtures to contend with, nor do they have any domestic cup interest, having been knocked out of the League Cup and FA Cup at the first hurdle ensuring their campaign will consist of just 40 games, the fewest since the 1981-82 season.
Against that backdrop, there can be no excuses for failing to secure a route back into Europe’s elite club competition, particularly as they have already played Arsenal and City twice, and face fellow top-four rivals, Liverpool and Aston Villa, at home.
Carrick has made a dream start to his second spell as United boss and has 15 games left this season to prove his candidacy to take the role on a permanent basis.
While bigger names will be in the frame in the summer, following the end of the World Cup, including England head coach Thomas Tuchel and Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti, both of whom are on United’s radar, Carrick is quietly and diligently displaying the credentials to be handed the role full-time, with the same poise and understated elegance he showed as a player.
Despite his impressive start in charge of United, there is no danger of Carrick getting carried away or starting to believe his own hype, despite the clamour already in some quarters for him to get the job permanently.
That is not his style and that character trait that served him so well in his playing days may just be what secures him the United job in the summer - if he can continue to build on his remarkable start in the Old Trafford hot-seat.
David McDonnell is the former Chief Manchester United Correspondent for the Daily Mirror.