Speaking ahead of Manchester United’s trip to East London to face West Ham, Michael Carrick highlighted three stars who have transformed the side.
Manchester United have looked much more comfortable in their 4-2-3-1 setup since Michael Carrick took over at Old Trafford.
While some believed that Rúben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 could have been the necessary change that United needed after Erik ten Hag was sacked, it was very soon noticed that the squad simply didn’t fit what Amorim needed from a side for his formation to be a success.
The former head coach played several players out of position, deploying Bruno Fernandes in a deeper midfield role and Diogo Dalot as a wing-back, both on the right and left of the pitch. Both players dipped in form during Amorim’s tenure, but have already looked back to their best in a more familiar setup under Carrick.
While the squad has improved on the whole, speaking ahead of the side’s trip down to London to face West Ham, Carrick highlighted three players who have stood out to him in his four games in charge.
Carrick praises three forwards
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the fixture on Tuesday, Carrick praised his forwards for adding so much variety to their attacking play.
As reported by Manchester World, when asked if he set up his side with permission to do what they wanted in the forward line, he said: “Yes, within reason, as long as we carry out the roles properly.
“It’s not total free-for-all where you can kind of go and decide, it’s a little bit of where you end up. Bruno’s that type where he understands the different roles and plays them particularly well again, and Bryan’s [Mbeumo] done very similar. To be honest, Matheus [Cunha] as well, playing sometimes through the middle, sometimes off the left, so it does give us the variety.
“I think the more of natural being wide, so that’s a little bit more predictable if you like. The flexibility certainly helps us as long as we look after the positions when we don’t have the ball.”
Not just the attack that has improved
Prior to Michael Carrick taking over, Senne Lammens and the Manchester United defence had kept just two clean sheets in 15 games, conceding 21 goals in the process.
In four games under the new head coach, Lammens has already secured two clean sheets, and, despite having one less defender in this formation compared to Amorim’s, the back-line looks much more secure, with Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez partnering each other brilliantly at the heart of the defence.
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On the side’s defensive resilience, Carrick said, “It’s pleasing for sure, I think it’s a lot, it’s not easy, but it’s a lot… it’s easier to win games without having to score so many goals every week, for sure.
“We do seem to be a team that can cause a lot of problems and create opportunities and score goals, so it’s definitely getting the balance right. There are still things to improve on, it’s definitely something we’ve focused on, trying to be better as a team collectively when we don’t have the ball, but in three or four weeks we’re going to fix, you’re not going to fix everything and all of a sudden look perfect.
So it’s understanding that a little bit, but yeah, I think the boys have responded really well to what we’ve asked them and the clean sheet, as much as everything today, the clean sheet was important for us.”
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