Michael Carrick has revealed what he wants to see from his Manchester United squad when they face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Michael Carrick returned to the Manchester United dugout for his second short spell, albeit this one 14 games longer than the last, in charge of his former club last weekend against Manchester City. As first matches go, it couldn’t have been much harder, but Carrick rose to the occasion as United dominated the game throughout.
The real test for Carrick will come when United face Fulham next week; this will test if United have learnt how to break down a low block – something they often struggled with under Rúben Amorim and Erik ten Hag. But before then, it’s Arsenal at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta’s side currently sit top of the Premier League with 50 points from 22 games. While they are a good team on their travels, they are even better when in front of the North London crowd. Arsenal have picked up 29 points from their 11 home games, compared to 21 points from 11 away games.
In mid-week, Arsenal travelled to Italy for their Champions League tie against Inter Milan. They made easy work of the Italian giants with a 3-1 win away from home, with two goals from Gabriel Jesus and another from Viktor Gyokeres. They will be confident ahead of the United match this weekend.
If United are to take anything from Sunday’s game, Carrick will need to muster up another performance like the Manchester derby. The players need to be firing and raring to go, and Carrick has now revealed exactly what he wants to see from his squad.
Carrick reveals what he wants United to do
Carrick was in attendance to see Darren Fletcher’s under-18s win 2-1 against Derby County in the FA Youth Cup fourth round – alongside Jonny Evans, Steve Holland, Wayne Rooney, Jason Wilcox, and more. Fletcher’s side showed character to continue fighting despite the brilliance from the Derby County goalkeeper, Cristiano (no, not that one) Dzialuk. Carrick will be asking for something similar.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Carrick said: “I think it’s the balance. I think we understand Arsenal are a good team. They’re a rounded team, to be honest.
“I think Mikel’s done a really good job at assembling a team that can do so many things well, so that in itself is a challenge.
“The feeling we’ve taken over the last week or two in the game and the training, [means] I think the boys are in a good place and are looking forward to the game. So it is a challenge, we know that.”
Carrick continued to say: “We can go there and face it head-on. And we’ve got good players, and we’re a good team as well, we’ve just proved that.
“We need to keep proving it as we go.”
Carrick reveals how United can beat Arsenal
Despite Arsenal’s threat, Carrick doesn’t appear worried about facing the league leaders. “That’s why they are sitting top of the league,” said the United head coach. “We can do a lot of things ourselves.
“It’s just about putting things in place [to stop Arsenal], so that’s the challenge when you’re playing games like this.”
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Carrick’s lack of fear is something from the United of old. He has the ‘we will beat you’ mentality that has been missing at Old Trafford for far too long.
A win against Arsenal could see United go into fourth place, but, as I said before, Carrick’s first real test won’t come until the Fulham game next week. He must prove he can continue the good form against sides lower down in the table.
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