Manchester United’s new era under interim head coach Michael Carrick got off to the best possible start on Saturday lunchtime.
Michael Carrick and his assistant Steve Holland chat during Manchester United’s win over Manchester City(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
In the build-up to the Manchester derby there was of course a lot of focus on Michael Carrick and the style of play he would look to bring to Old Trafford. Having only managed Manchester United previously for three matches as an interim in 2021, looking to that period offered few clues.
“If you don’t have more info of the opponent, you focus on yourself and the players,” Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference. “You can have some ideas of what Middlesbrough has done or when Michael was in his part as a manager at Man United but tactics is about the players.
“The players tomorrow are different to the Middlesbrough ones.” If Guardiola were to cast an eye over Carrick’s time in the north east in search of clues, it would have been a red herring. While United set up in the same 4-2-3-1 system Carrick played at Boro, their style was entirely different.
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While the Middlesbrough team Carrick forged were looking to dominate possession, United were happy for City to have the ball, safe in the knowledge they would be able to defend when the Blues picked their moment. The Reds had just 32 per cent possession – unheard of for a Carrick team.
But it was exactly what United needed to do. Bernardo Silva said it himself after the match, the Reds ‘took the game to where they are good,’ and doing that proved successful. But that does not mean it was expected.
United are coming out of an era where adaptation from the manager was not on the agenda. Ruben Amorim was set in his ways and would have kept playing in the 3-4-2-1 system until it eventually clicked or he was fired.
Under Carrick, United don’t look set to be so predictable. Another example of his flexibility came with his use of Kobbie Mainoo. After his appointment on Tuesday, Carrick’s comments about the midfielder were back into the spotlight.
“He’s more of an attacker. I don’t see him as a holding midfielder,” Carrick told Rio Ferdinand on his podcast.
“He’s that line above where he needs a little bit more freedom. He can defend the higher line, but I think that bit deeper, around the centre-backs, that’s a bit of a different thing completely.
“I see him playing that little bit higher and creating. I think he’s got a massive future. I really like him, he just needs that patience and a little bit of a break again.”
Those comments seemed to point towards only one outcome. And yet, Mainoo played 90 minutes in central midfield alongside Casemiro and it worked perfectly.
Having a head coach, even in the interim, willing to make slight alterations to their philosophy for the good of the team is a huge positive for the Reds. It should ensure opponents are left guessing when they come to face United.