Everything Michael Carrick touches is turning into gold at the moment, but he’ll have to silence a key management doubt in Man Utd’s next two games.
So far, Michael Carrick is in a good position because he’s getting the chance to audition weekly for the permanent Man Utd manager job.
He has shown that he can beat marquee teams, break down a stubborn ten-man setup, halt the momentum of a team in form, and come through a difficult game with three points.
What he hasn’t and already failed to do once will now be tested in Man Utd’s next two games.
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Sole doubt is Michael Carrick’s squad management
To an extent, it will be unfair to call out Carrick’s squad management because of the circumstances he has walked into.
United were out of both cup competitions by the time Carrick took the job, so he basically had a Premier League gauntlet to run.
That made it so that he couldn’t really rotate from game-to-game, especially a winning combination.
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However, the only time he should have managed the squad better was against West Ham, which came about three days after the win against Spurs.
Carrick named an unchanged team for that game, and signs of tiredness were visible in the team’s sluggish play with and without the ball.
Even a scare for Bryan Mbeumo after the Spurs game didn’t prevent Carrick from starting him again three days later.
That remains the sole doubt about Carrick’s squad management, and one which needs answering because United will be juggling four competitions next season.
Carrick has the chance to silence doubts in the next two games
The game against Crystal Palace up next is again almost a week separated from the Everton victory, but Newcastle have pretty much the same turnaround time as West Ham after Spurs.
Michael Carrick is just another Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with better players: __ % AGREE
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Michael Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Man Utd managers
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick as Man Utd managers
More importantly, that is the only time United will play two games in less than a week, as the fixture schedule goes back to one/week until the end of the season.
Carrick is well within his rights to name an unchanged XI for Palace, although Benjamin Sesko might have something to say about that.
However, if he names an unchanged XI for Newcastle, questions will be asked about his squad management and ability to juggle four competitions next season.
Coincidentally, a lack of rotation was one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s issues as well, as he ran his first XI into the ground, and the bench became disillusioned as a result.
Carrick is already doing everything he can to shed that label, and he can take a big step towards achieving it by showing his rotating nous against Newcastle.
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