Online Reporter
NOW Michael Carrick has had his job title upgraded, Manchester United can accelerate plans for next season.
United’s decision to keep Carrick is entirely understandable and he merits a fair crack of the whip for his work over the past four months.
It is also understandable United have handed Carrick a two-year contract when none of their managers post-Ferguson have made it to the three-year mark.
That gives United some wiggle room in case Carrick struggles amid the increased workload next season and greater expectations.
At the minimum, United have to secure Champions League qualification again and compete in cup competitions in 2026-27.
They will have at least eight more matches than the 40 this term, though Carrick presided over 46-game league seasons with Middlesbrough.
Here are the five priorities for United’s permanent head coach:
MIDFIELD OVERHAUL
The clear area of improvement in the United squad is the position Carrick played in. United want to sign at least two midfielders and are open to bringing in a third if Manuel Ugarte is sold.
Casemiro may have played for United for the last time following his Old Trafford farewell but Kobbie Mainoo’s future is secure following his five-year contract renewal.
United have cast the net far and wide. Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali, Carlos Baleba, Adam Wharton, Alex Scott, Aurelien Tchouemeni, Joao Gomes and Matheus Fernandes are midfielders that United have cast their eye over.
There will be a marquee midfield addition, one who fetches a fee of the best part of £100million. Beyond that headline signing, United will have to recruit for smart prices. Well-placed sources say the speculation regarding the breakdown of fees for midfielders is wide of the mark and the market will have a significant bearing on how much United part with.
RECONDITION THE PLAYERS
United made the most of playing one game per week in a season where they endured 16-day, 13-day, 11-day and 24-day gaps between fixtures.
Yet two of United’s worst performances under Carrick – at West Ham United and Newcastle – came three days after their previous fixture.
That confirmed that whenever there was a tight turnaround, United started to wilt in a season where their players were conditioned for no midweek matches.
The vast majority of United’s players are accustomed to two games per week, but there are exceptions. Bryan Mbeumo, excellent in the first six months, went off the boil in the final third and figures at Brentford felt he tended to struggle whenever there was a quick turnaround between games.
Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko have not experienced the intensity of representing a top-five Premier League club in the Champions League. It will also be new to raw centre halves Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, as well as goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
SHOW RUTHLESSNESS
The main incentive for announcing Carrick’s appointment before the season ends is he can now have candid conversations with players who need a change of scenery.
Ugarte, Altay Bayindir and Joshua Zirkzee are not United squad-player material and the trio should have been told that, in tactful terms, by the end of this week at the latest.
Squad depth will be more important next season as United are guaranteed to have at least eight more games. By virtue of the increased workload, there will be more injuries.
They have already started clearing the decks. Casemiro, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia will be released.
That’s around £640,000 slashed off the weekly wage bill.
GET IT RIGHT ON THE LEFT
United’s left-hand side is a conundrum. Carrick has Cunha, Patrick Dorgu and Luke Shaw, so United are one senior player short.
Shaw, 31 in July, has started every Premier League game this season, chiefly due to the absence of European football. He is out of contract next year, so United clearly need a long-term left back. Dorgu was signed as a left back but appears more comfortable operating as a winger.
Yet Cunha and Dorgu as United’s left-wing options is flawed. One is a playmaker by trade and right-footed. The other is a left back by trade and left-footed. The dynamic changes markedly, depending on which one starts.
United are not exactly lacking left backs, either. They have Shaw, Dorgu, Harry Amass and Diego Leon on their books. Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot can also play there. Suddenly, a natural left winger seems more pressing.
RESTORE CONTROL
“What a game that was,” Carrick said in his on-pitch address to United fans on Sunday. “That’s how we like it. We’ve got to make it hard for ourselves, we’ve got to make it exciting.”
It was a classic United win: enthralling, tight, needlessly dramatic and with a nervy finale.
United’s biggest strength could also be their biggest weakness: they were patently reliant on the counter-attack.
United have been renowned for counter-attacking goals for decades yet relying on that tactic is unlikely to upgrade them to title challengers, never mind yield the title. Carrick should know, as it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sole tactic when he assisted the Norwegian.
United mastered a proactive and dominant style. Twenty years later, Carrick’s challenge is to oversee it from the dugout. – Sun
