Michael Carrick has been close to flawless as Manchester United interim head coach and in the draw to Bournemouth he showed he is learning on the job.
Friday evening’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth was initially a frustrating result for Manchester United, but in hindsight, it is a precious point in the pursuit of Champions League qualification.
Michael Carrick was left frustrated by referee decisions against Bournemouth, and it means he has now dropped points in back-to-back away games following the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at the start of March.
Carrick made mistakes against Newcastle that ended up costing United, but against the Cherries, his in-game management actually deserves to be praised.
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Should Michael Carrick be cut some slack because of the decisions that went against Man United?
Manchester United were awarded one penalty vs Bournemouth but denied another just before the equaliser…
Michael Carrick comments on penalty decision in Manchester United vs Bournemouth.
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Michael Carrick avoided repeat of his biggest Man Utd mistake
The only defeat so far under Carrick came at St James’ Park against a Newcastle side who were down to 10 men.
When United were pushing for a winner, Carrick turned to his bench and brought on Tyrell Malacia despite the Dutch defender having played two minutes across the entire Premier League campaign.
Just minutes later, the Malacia substitution proved to be a failure as he struggled to track back and was easily beaten by Will Osula who then curled his effort past Senne Lammens to score the winner.
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Choosing Malacia over academy graduate Ayden Heaven was an error on Carrick’s behalf, but he learned from his mistake against Bournemouth.
After Harry Maguire was sent off at the Vitality Stadium, Carrick needed defensive reinforcements. Once again, Malacia could have come on and Luke Shaw could have shifted inside into a centre-back role similar to the one he played under Ruben Amorim.
But this time, Carrick brought on Heaven in the 83rd minute and the 19-year-old contributed to United’s stubborn defence to claim a point away from home.
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Michael Carrick is inexperienced but learning
The Newcastle defeat was a big learning curve for Carrick, and it is always said that you learn more from your defeats than your victories.
Considering that Malacia is expected to leave United in the summer, the decision to bring him on at St James’ Park was baffling, but clearly it was an error that Carrick and his staff learned from.
At 44 years old, Carrick is very young when it comes to the world of football management. He does have close to 150 games as a manager under his belt, but there is no denying that he still has plenty to learn.
But Carrick has surrounded himself with experience in his backroom staff, and he showed against Bournemouth that he is constantly learning and adapting.
United are in a very comfortable position to qualify for the Champions League, and Carrick deserves to stay.
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