Michael Carrick has an idea of how he wants Man Utd to play next season but it doesn't fit within the current tactical trends in the Premier League.
Michael Carrick, Steve Holland and Jonathan Woodgate
Manchester United's coaching staff are trying to build a team that can control games next season
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The trends in the Premier League last season weren't difficult to see. It was about set-pieces, it was about duels, it was about physicality and very little of it was about control.
As more and more teams focused on man-marking, it felt like games became about 11 distinct battles. Win more of them and you could claim territory, earn attacking set-pieces and eventually win the game through that approach.
What was often lacking was teams being able to get into a rhythm and bring some control to games. Even Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, previously the masters at this, struggled to exert authority from midfield on occasions.
It also feels like the Premier League's intensity has gone up recently. It certainly did last season. Space has been at more of a premium than ever and those midfielders who look to get on the ball, make short passes and control a game have struggled to do so.
Essentially, the Premier League is less about possession now than it has been for a long, long time. Two seasons ago four teams averaged more than 60% possession in a game and six had more than 58% per game.
Last season, only City had more than 60% and that was only just (60.5%), while only one other team (Chelsea) had more than 58% possession. It seems a clear trend that there are fewer teams concerned about possession and more focused on the duels within a game that can be so decisive now.
All of which makes what Michael Carrick is doing at Manchester United particularly interesting. United lost a physical midfielder who could hold his own this summer, with Casemiro leaving on a free transfer. The plan to overhaul the centre of the pitch has focused on technical skills rather than physicality.
So far, United have signed Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans this summer. Both have Premier League experience, so it won't be a shock to them, but part of the attraction of signing them from Chelsea and Aston Villa, respectively, was that they are high-level technical midfielders with excellent passing ranges.
JJ Gabriel
JJ Gabriel
That has been the focus of recruitment at Old Trafford this summer, and it's clear Carrick wants to turn United into a team better able to control games and dictate the pace and tempo of play. He has repurposed Mason Mount as a deep-lying midfielder to further aid this plan.
This is going to be a fascinating development in Carrick's team heading into next season. This is his first transfer window to put a stamp on his team and the first pre-season to really focus on tactical changes.
Perhaps it's no surprise that Carrick looks keen to build a midfield in his own image. In his playing days, his work as a deep-lying midfielder was all about passing and controlling a game with the ball, rather than without it. It worked for a United team that enjoyed plenty of the ball.
That's what Carrick wants to see his own team do now. Even in the Championship at Middlesbrough, he built a team that wanted to play with the ball, signing Aidan Morris to add passing quality. If there was a criticism at the Riverside, it was that control never amounted to enough penetration in the final third.
The challenge now is that the approach is bucking the current Premier League trend. Possession seems harder than ever to keep, but United look like a team focused on what they can do with the ball.