In the build-up to the first game of his second stint as Manchester United head coach, Michael Carrick spoke about Old Trafford being “a magical place”.
Few imagined he would conjure up a performance against Manchester City so complete Pep Guardiola admitted his team might have been beaten even if Diogo Dalot had been sent off in the opening minutes.
With a 2-0 victory, Carrick has now added Guardiola’s name to a list of managers he has beaten as United head coach that also includes Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta. He has also drawn with a Chelsea side managed by Thomas Tuchel.
As he left the pitch to the echoes of the song United fans created for him when he first arrived as a player in 2006, Carrick was able to reflect on a day that could hardly have gone any better.
“It’s a great start, there’s no getting away from that,” he said, smiling.
Carrick is not Ruben Amorim, clearly. It is just not his way to deliver soundbites that create headlines. He does not beam the same way as his Portuguese predecessor – or pepper his media engagements with laughter. He has also been around long enough to not get too carried away by the outcome of one high-profile game.
“Consistency is the key to any success,” he said. “If you can find that, you’re on to a winner.
“We’re not going to have games with the emotion and feeling that today brought. We all understand that.
“But there’s definitely a standard and expectation we need to live up to. That’s our challenge.”
Carrick and his family remained season ticket holders at United even though it is over a decade since he played for the club.
This season he has appeared as a pundit on TV and analysed his old side’s games.
He could not know Amorim would get sacked, nor that he would edge out his old boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and be given the chance of guiding United to the end of the season, but he had a view in the back of his mind about how to get the best out of these players.
It did not involve Amorim’s three at the back. It did involve Kobbie Mainoo – the most obvious victim of Amorim’s rigid approach, which even United’s executives eventually felt was not helping the club achieve consistency.
“I’ve watched a lot,” Carrick said. “We’ve got season tickets, so my family comes and I’ve come to a lot of games over recent times. You get to know the players and your own eye.
“Everyone has an opinion and there are your instincts. It’s obviously something that clicks into gear when you think maybe it might be on my toes to do something about it.”
The reward came through Mainoo’s industry alongside veteran Brazilian Casemiro, in a midfield pair Amorim never really gave the impression he trusted.
“Kobbie was great alongside Casa,” said Carrick. “Between the two of them it gave us a foundation.”
Then there was the performance of Harry Maguire, starting his first game since 8 November, helping central-defensive partner Lisandro Martinez dominate Erling Haaland to such an extent City’s xG of 0.45 was their second lowest in 364 Premier League games under Guardiola.
“It was a big ask of ‘H’ and credit to him,” said Carrick.
“We could take it for granted sometimes, what players do. He has literally trained for two or three days over the last eight or nine weeks, so it was a bit of a calculated gamble over how long he could play.
“But he has come through it and he was fantastic.”