After one loss, Michael Carrick is about to see a whole lot of negativity flung at him, when in reality, he’s doing an admirable job at a club reeling from a decision made for Ruben Amorim.
It defies belief that Ruben Amorim burned his bridges at a club, thinking that he wasn’t backed, when he was probably backed more than his results warranted.
From Man Utd being willing to sell Kobbie Mainoo last summer to going all-in on his “bomb squad” idea, he had carte blanche to run the team.
One of the decisions made for Amorim during this spell is something which United are regretting right now, with Michael Carrick having to navigate through those tricky waters.
Ruben Amorim applauds after the Premier League match between Manchester United and Wolves at Old Trafford in 2025 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Ruben Amorim deserves ___ % credit for Michael Carrick’s BRILLIANT start at Man Utd
Fill in the blank. Did Amorim lay the foundation for success at Old Trafford?
Michael Carrick and Ruben Amorim as Man Utd managers split image
Michael Carrick and Ruben Amorim as Man Utd managers
Michael Carrick’s width problem at Man Utd is due to Ruben Amorim
Man Utd fans won’t be doubting the club’s decision to offload Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho in one window.
The club clearly needed to move on from them, regardless of who the manager was, and it just so turned out that all of them were wingers.
What is down to Ruben Amorim, however, is the way United went about replacing them, in the sense that they actually didn’t!
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Since Amorim wanted two narrow No. 10s, and the wing-backs provided the width, United moved away from buying even inside forwards, let alone traditional wingers.
Once Amorim was sacked and the 4-2-3-1 came back to Old Trafford, the lack of wingers started hurting United.
Patrick Dorgu’s injury hasn’t helped, but United’s narrow buildup structure is so easily stifled by a central low-block that it’s a wonder that Carrick managed to get results until the Newcastle loss.
Had Amorim not been in charge in the summer window, United would have bought some conventional wingers who stretch the pitch horizontally.
As it stands, he wanted two narrow inside forwards, which, in a 4-2-3-1, means that Cunha, Mbeumo and Fernandes occupy the same space and the striker is starved of service.
Michael Carrick worked around this issue
The pitchforks are out in full force against Carrick after just one loss, but it’s actually commendable how he worked around this issue to continue to get results.
Loss to 10-men Everton under Amorim vs Loss to 10-men Newcastle under Carrick
Which defeat is worse? Did Carrick repeat any Amorim mistake from that game?
Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick as Man Utd managers
Ruben Amorim vs Everton and Michael Carrick vs Newcastle as Man Utd managers
He has become a victim of his own success, and because he doesn’t complain about injuries and tactical problems like Amorim used to, people take that success for granted.
The reality is that ever since Patrick Dorgu and Lisandro Martinez got injured, Carrick has had to tweak something in every game to get a result.
Be it positioning Cunha and Mbeumo high and wide, or asking Fernandes to drop deep to help in the buildup, Carrick has worked around the team’s lack of width to get results.
He has already shown the levels he can achieve with a squad that can stretch the opposition, as the performances against City, Arsenal, Fulham and Spurs were some of the best since Sir Alex retired.
Carrick walked into a difficult job made even trickier due to the club’s decision to back Amorim. The results he’s achieved since then are a true reflection of his ability as a manager, not this one loss.
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