Michael Carrick has the Midas touch at Man Utd right now, even when he reverses a popular decision, as evidenced by the win against Aston Villa.
The Champions League music can almost be heard at Old Trafford now after Man Utd defeated Aston Villa 3-1 courtesy of a second-half salvo.
Michael Carrick answered his critics in style, who were frothing at the mouth to write him off after the loss against Newcastle.
Even sweeter was the fact that he did it on his terms, by reversing a popular decision which ended up being a masterstroke.
Benjamin Sesko of Manchester United speaks to Diogo Dalot of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in Manchester, United Kingdom, on March 1, 2026
Photo by Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Michael Carrick reversed his Benjamin Sesko decision
Manchester United’s general performance levels had a lot of people worried coming into this game, but Benjamin Sesko was not one of the worries.
The striker was in red-hot form, almost snatching the starting XI berth away from Carrick’s hands by making himself undeniable off the bench.
His reward was back-to-back starts against Crystal Palace and Newcastle, with Sesko scoring against Palace, before drawing a blank against Newcastle.
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Common sense dictated that Sesko would keep his place in the starting XI as one of the unique threats in the Man Utd squad, but Carrick was bold.
He dropped Sesko despite the Slovenian not playing badly at all, and went back to the fluid front four dynamic that drove his early success at the club.
Eyebrows were raised when Sesko was dropped, but Carrick took the bold call for the team’s benefit since he had effectively fixed what wasn’t broken by introducing Sesko to the XI in the first place.
By the end of the game, that decision developed as a bona fide masterstroke.
Carrick’s bold decision was a masterstroke
Not only did the fluid front four give Villa problems with their movements and interplay in close quarters, but Sesko also repeated his trick of scoring off the bench.
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Carrick could not have envisioned a more perfect scenario on the pitch when he made the decision to drop Sesko before the game.
United’s width became less of an issue as Bryan Mbeumo constantly stretched defences. Bruno Fernandes had more runners to pick out, and Amad played his one-twos to unsettle the defence.
Sesko then came on and put a fine topping on the performance by showing trademark striker’s instinct to seal the win for United.
There is no doubt that Sesko would like to continue starting games, but Carrick is managing this good headache perfectly by making horses-for-courses choices.
When Patrick Dorgu is back to provide natural width, Sesko will be the best fit alongside him. Until then, he’s doing a remarkable job off the bench.
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