Harry Maguire has explained how Michael Carrick’s structure at Manchester United has helped two of his talented teammates.
Manchester United look to be in a healthy position under Michael Carrick after putting together a run of four straight wins over Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur.
Those results have lifted the Reds firmly into the top-four picture, aided by the benefit of a lighter schedule following their exit from European competition.
The positive impact of the managerial change is becoming increasingly evident. Under the previous setup, there were frequent doubts about the squad’s suitability to Ruben Amorim’s tactical approach.
Now, United appear more cohesive, with Carrick successfully maximising the performances of several key players to yield positive results.
Maguire believes Carrick’s structure has helped two United stars
United’s midfield has gone from looking like the weak point under Amorim to the strongest area of the team now. Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro are both thriving in their partnership while Bruno Fernandes is running the show from his natural no.10 position.
Harry Maguire has offered praise to both Mainoo and Casemiro this week but insisted that the structure Carrick has brought to the team has helped the midfield pairing excel.
“He’s been brilliant, we know what Kobbie can do,” Maguire said in an interview with ex-United midfielder Owen Hargreaves when asked about his 20-year-old teammate.
“He can take the ball for us under pressure, he’s brilliant on the ball and he can get out of tight spaces. When the structure… I always say, as a footballer, if the structure is good then you can perform and look a good player.
“But the structure has got to be good around you, with Casemiro as well, we’ve seen over the last few games when the structure is good around Case, he’s still a magnificent centre-midfielder.”
Mainoo and Casemiro can focus on their games
Maguire was certainly not meaning to criticise Ruben Amorim with those comments but fans are finding it difficult to understand why he stuck with a midfield two for so long.
It made things so much more complicated for the Reds in the middle of the pitch and also isolated one of the team’s most talented players on the substitutes bench.
Read More: Kobbie Mainoo has shown Thomas Tuchel he’s England’s answer with just four Manchester United games
Questions were made over the midfield’s ability to cover ground but, like Maguire is suggesting, you don’t always need to focus on that if your structure is sound.
Now that is in place, it seems like Mainoo and Casemiro can focus on the best areas of their game and it is working out for the team right now.
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