As pressure mounts at Old Trafford, the Red Devils' boss embraces tactical ambiguity, blending patient build-up with explosive transitions to keep opponents guessing in the final third.
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Manchester United have undoubtedly had a poor start to the season given the high expectations placed on the club before the season started. The 3-2 loss against Brighton in the Carabao Cup, despite leading 2-0, has only caused more uproar.
The only two wins in United's first six games in all competitions have been against Ipswich Town in the Premier League and against Sabah in the Champions League. Both are games you would expect the Red Devils to win.
While losses to Manchester City and Brighton can happen given the calibre of players and the way they play football, the manner of defeats combined with the loss to Hull City and the draw to Everton has caused serious alarm bells.
Michael Carrick's side are set to take on Fulham in the final game before the international break, and given the London side's issues so far this season, United will be going into it expecting a win.
Carrick values unpredictability
Last season, during Carrick's interim tenure at the club, United had a very noticeable style of play. Given that Carrick was only trying to steady the ship, it was a compact system that played with lightning-fast transitions.
However, in the pre-season and so far this term, the United legend has clearly tried to evolve the way his side plays. Opting for a more patient build-up to dominate possession, similar to his Middlesbrough team, Carrick has also kept the former principles of fast attacks you associate with the 'Manchester United way'.
While at times this has been successful, there have been very noticeable flaws. For example, in wide areas, United have been very susceptible to crosses into the box, and also to the tempo at which the players have constantly changed. Sometimes they come charging out of the box, and other times they choose to drop off. But it is the inconsistency of tempo that has caused much frustration.
However, this unpredictability is something that Carrick values in his sides to give them that extra sense of mystery, regardless of whether it works or not.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "I like the fact that we can't pin down our identity, because that means we're unpredictable.
"From an offensive point of view, we want to be unpredictable. We don't want people to guess what we're going to do next or what our main strength is.
"I prefer to have a team that works like this, capable of attacking in different ways. We've been attacking well since January and have scored a good number of goals. Being unpredictable is a good thing."
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Players need more conviction
In an ideal world, having an unpredictable style of play that forces the opposition to adapt to United, rather than the Reds having to adapt to them, is a brilliant place to be. However, it relies on many key things to happen, which do not always happen.
The first of which is the players playing with conviction. While this could be tactical or due to fitness, it feels as though, at times, the players vary too much in their intensity.
While dictating the tempo can be advantageous, the way in which Manchester United are doing it is allowing the opposition to get back into the game and play their tempo, as we saw against Brighton.
Finally, it can be argued that in the second half of games, teams seem to adapt better to United's system, and we often stay the same and, at times, do not change the system until around the 75th minute. If the coaching setup were more decisive at times, they could offset some of the issues the club has faced in terms of holding onto leads.