Speaking after Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Arsenal, Harry Maguire revealed what Michael Carrick has brought to the side after wins against first and second in the Premier League.
Manchester United endured a difficult opening spell as Arsenal pinned them back, limiting their ability to gain a foothold in the opposition half. The pressure told just before the half-hour mark when Arsenal took the lead via a Lisandro Martínez own goal.
The setback appeared to jolt Michael Carrick’s side into life. United nearly responded immediately through Bryan Mbeumo, though a heavy first touch denied him. Seven minutes later, however, Mbeumo made no mistake, capitalising on a poor back pass from Martin Zubimendi before calmly rounding David Raya to slot home the equaliser.
United emerged for the second half with renewed intent, and five minutes after the restart, Patrick Dorgu fired a superb strike to put the visitors ahead.
As United pushed to see out the contest, Arsenal levelled from a scrappy corner, but the last laugh belonged to substitute Matheus Cunha, who sealed a dramatic victory with an excellent strike in the 87th minute.
Carrick’s impact on the Man Utd squad
After the disappointing end to Ruben Amorim’s tenure at the club and Darren Fletcher coming away winless in his two-game stint in charge, hardly anyone could have expected Michael Carrick to guide Man Utd to victory over first and second in the league in back-to-back games, but he has done just that.
Speaking after the game, Harry Maguire reflected on what the new interim head coach has brought to the side and touched on one player who has been key in the two fixtures.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: “Michael [Carrick] has come in, and he’s been brilliant with us. He’s brought fresh energy, and the group has really galvanised. Obviously, two tough games [City and Arsenal], everyone probably thought we would come away from them with not many points, but we won both of them.
“Obviously, we have a much bigger squad now with the return of the players from AFCON. Players like Matheus [Cunha] coming off the bench, who I’m sure is not too happy sitting on the bench in the last two games – I know what he’s like, he wants to play – but I must say he has made the difference in the two games.
“He came on against City and changed the game, and today he’s made the difference for us. It just shows the squad of players we have and the attacking talent we have that can come on and do that.”
Carrick’s selection headache
While Manchester United’s lack of quality depth has been apparent this season, Michael Carrick’s use of the 4-2-3-1 rather than Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation has meant that there is now serious competition for starting places in this Manchester United side.
After reverting to a back four, there is now only room for one of either Cunha or Dorgu, as opposed to under Amorim, where Dorgu could start as a left wing-back and the Brazilian as the left-sided central attacking midfielder.
The Danish left-back’s transformation to a more attacking left midfielder has been nothing short of amazing, playing key roles in both of Carrick’s opening games, scoring in the two fixtures.
The same can be said for Cunha, who has been fantastic coming off the bench both against Man City and against Arsenal. The Brazilian set up Dorgu’s goal against City, while also assisting Mason Mount for what should have been United’s third against City, but was controversially ruled offside. Cunha left his mark against Arsenal aswell, scoring a superb low driven shot to secure all three points for The Reds, and will surely be giving Carrick a major selection headache for the fixtures to come.
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