After Manchester United’s 2-0 win over rivals Man City, Gary Lineker spoke on one simple change that new boss Michael Carrick has made that has improved the squad.
Michael Carrick couldn’t have asked for a better start to his second interim stint at Manchester United.
United completely blew away Manchester City at Old Trafford, comfortably beating their rivals 2-0, although it could have even been three or four.
After Rúben Amorim’s string of disappointing results that came towards the end of his tenure at the club, not many could have predicted the ease with which Manchester United won on the day.
Carrick opted to deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Kobbie Mainoo being handed his first start of the season after falling out with Amorim, and excelled alongside Casemiro in the midfield.
The tie also saw the returns of both Amad and Bryan Mbeumo after the pair returned from AFCON duty, and picked up where they left off in December, linking up well down the right flank.
Gary Lineker names four players who looked much improved
Switching from a 3-4-2-1 formation back to a more traditional 4-2-3-1 was always going to bring with it a whole host of change, and despite only being with the side for three days prior to the derby, Gary Lineker noticed one simple change that Carrick made that has already made the side better.
Talking on The Rest Is Football, he said: “He brought in Kobbie Mainoo, who came in and looked comfortable in midfield, and he hasn’t started since August, so I think it was a mixture of different things.
“Also, putting Bruno Fernandes slightly further forward, Bruno is absolutely outstanding, and it just looked more like a fit.
“I know he’s been away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, but Amad on the right, but not playing as a wing-back.
“I mean players that suit their positions, and they just looked more comfortable in their roles, and with that comes in energy, and with that comes an enthusiasm and a belief. They’ve got to keep that, maintain that.”
Man Utd can achieve Champions League football
As seen by the first half of the Premier League season, this campaign has been an extremely unpredictable one, with just five points separating Fulham in 11th and Liverpool in 4th.
Manchester United currently find themselves in fifth place on 35 points, and with fifth place most likely being rewarded Champions League football next season, United are still very much in the race for elite European football next season.
Lineker expanded on the club’s chances of keeping the energy displayed against Man City for their upcoming games, touching on their chances of achieving Champions League football, saying: “They’ve got every chance of doing it, they’re not going to be playing too many games because they’re not in any cup competitions now and not in European football.
“They need to work on that, and they are very close, of course, to the Champions League spots, so there’s maybe some reasons to be cheerful for the long-suffering fans at Manchester United.”
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