Michael Carrick has showcased incredible tactical flexibility during his first four games as Manchester United head coach.
Ruben Amorim spent 14 months trying to communicate his 3-4-2-1 formation and style of play to this Manchester United squad.
In just four games, Michael Carrick has that exact same squad playing the best football seen this season and four wins in a row is a testament to his hard work behind the scenes.
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While there have been very few changes to the starting line-up in those four matches, Carrick has shown tactical flexibility by approaching each game differently.
In the latest 2-0 win over Tottenham, there were a few minor details that made a major difference.
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Michael Carrick’s Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes ‘tweak’
There have been improvements all over the pitch since Carrick and his backroom staff took charge last month.
Against Tottenham, Senne Lammens kept a well-earned clean sheet, and United continued to look fluid and threatening in the final third.
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Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, Danny Murphy pointed out the change in positioning that unlocked Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes.
“You’d be forgiven for thinking he put the same team out, same formation. He didn’t. He made a great little tweak and it worked perfectly, Murphy said.
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“He played Bruno and Cunha as two No.10s, or two false nines. He moved Mbeumo, who has been playing centre-forward out to the left and Amad was on the right.
“What it did, with two intelligent players, it gave Tottenham’s centre-halves a real problem – do they go in and follow them or do they drop off?
“One comes to feet and the other goes into space. This is the little tweak that Carrick made that I was really impressed with. He’s obviously a really football-thinking man.
Michael Carrick is making a mockery of tactical criticism
The biggest criticism of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United was that the approach to matches often felt one-dimensional and relied on ‘individual brilliance’ rather than a tactical game plan.
Because of Carrick’s involvement in Solskjaer’s backroom staff, he is being painted with the same brush since his return to Old Trafford.
But in his first four matches, Carrick has proven he can beat the best teams and managers in the league. Of equal importance, he proved he can win as a favourite and win against a defensive side with 10 men – something Amorim struggled to do earlier this season.
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Tactically, there can be zero complaints about how United have set up in any of Carrick’s four games so far.
Will Carrick always get it right? Very unlikely. He is still only a 44-year-old manager with time to improve and learn from his mistakes. But is Carrick cut out to be United’s permanent head coach? So far, it’s hard to argue against it.
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