Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
A Man Utd manager getting compared to Ruben Amorim is scary, and Michael Carrick got his first similarity vs Man City.
Referee mistakes (conspiracy?) aside, it is a harsh truth that Man Utd could not score despite playing against ten men.
The attack which flowed nicely last season looks stunted and devoid of ideas all of a sudden, and that’s because Michael Carrick has shown shades of Ruben Amorim.
It was clear with his Matheus Cunha decision vs City, which led to Man Utd suffering.
Manchester United v Manchester City - Premier League 2026/27
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Michael Carrick’s Matheus Cunha experiment similar to Amorim
It was a trait of Amorim that he kept such a stubborn belief in his principles that nothing could shake him.
There’s something praiseworthy about that conviction, but only if it gives results. Otherwise, you just look like a stubborn fool with no plan B.
That happened with Amorim, and for all the talk of Carrick being a much more pragmatic manager, he’s walking the same path.
Once again, vs City, Carrick persisted with his failed Matheus Cunha experiment, starting the Brazilian as his striker.
That decision is iffy on the best of days, but it became indefensible when City were reduced to ten men, changing the game for United, as Enzo Maresca so gleefully pointed out.
Cunha couldn’t get involved in the game at all, there was nobody to press because City played in a block, and his penalty box instincts are not that of a striker, unsurprisingly.
Man Utd and Cunha both suffer in this experiment
This experiment doesn’t just hurt United, but it also hurts Cunha, who has looked like a shell of the player he was last season.
Man Utd turned a bad start into a good season in 2025/26… How do we / can we do the same in 2026/27?
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The Brazilian is someone who needs space in front of him to run into, so he can start his mazy dribbles and beat players with momentum.
It’s why he keeps dropping deep even as a striker, because he likes the ball to be at his feet and with space in front of him.
It leaves United without a focal point to play off of, which is fine in a fluid attacking system relying on transitions to score goals.
However, if the game is attack vs defence, and United have to rely on possession domination to score goals, then they miss Sesko’s presence to occupy the centre-backs.
Neither Cunha not United are benefitting from this experiment, and Carrick’s insistence on sticking with it is making him similar to Amorim in a scary way.