Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Rotation will become the theme of the season for Man Utd as fixtures pile up, and Michael Carrick has thrown down the gauntlet.
It’s a question facing Michael Carrick as well, since he managed a straight 17-game run purely in the league last season.
Can he use the squad effectively? Does he have the players to do so? How does he pick and choose which games to gamble on?
Carrick has answered all of those questions with a single, brutally honest response that leaves no hiding place for anyone at Carrington.
Manchester United Press Conference
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
I'm pretty sure most United fans would have said the same about Hull. Treat any match with contempt and run the risk of failing. It is easy to sub players off when the result is safe, but ain't so easy the opposite way round!
Michael Carrick’s brutal warning to Man Utd squad
Carrick hasn’t rotated much so far but he has a valid reason as the gaps between games have been manageable so far.
That will change with the Champions League and the Carabao Cup starting, so Carrick will have no hiding place if he doesn’t use his squad.
Now, he has ensured that there is no hiding place for these players either, as he made a brutally honest statement when asked about rotation.
He said: “It’s a balanced view, that’s why we’ve got the squad. We need to adapt to certain strengths and different ways of playing. We play Thursday, Wednesday, it’s about managing the group and trusting them, and anyone who can play will play.”
The last six words of that statement in bold encapsulates a new form of Carrick, where he has preached meritocracy while giving himself an out.
It couldn’t be clearer to the squad players that if they are fit and are still not playing, then Carrick simply thinks they “can’t” play.
He said this now, but Manuel Ugarte felt it last season, when he remained rooted to the bench despite being fit under him.
The same message has now been vocalised, and it does two things without demonising or singling out any particular player.
The first is that it tells the squad players to buckle up and stop feeling sorry for themselves. They need to take the chance when it arrives.
The second is that it gives Carrick an out, where he can simply point to this statement if he’s asked about a squad player’s lack of minutes in the future.
He has once again proved that he is a master communicator who doesn’t make bombastic statements as his predecessor did, but sets clear boundaries when he needs to.