Manchester United have won both of their games against Manchester City and Arsenal since Michael Carrick and his coaching team came in.
It was yet another brilliant result and performance from Manchester United on the weekend. They became the first team to beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium this season, and they did it in style.
While two goals were conceded, Michael Carrick’s team were solid defensively. An own goal and a corner were the only ways Arsenal could punish United.
In fact, during the game, Mikel Arteta’s side only created one big chance throughout the game, and that was Mikel Merino’s goal from the set-piece.
United also kept Manchester City quiet last week. Pep Guardiola’s side failed to create any big chances in that clash and only had one shot on target.
Carrick has praised the players and his coaches for the strong start, and Steve Holland seems like he is playing a key role in improving United’s backline.
What Holland has done at United to help defensively
Holland, 55, has worked as an assistant coach at Chelsea and with England under Gareth Southgate. Despite not working with Carrick before, it was decided that his experience would benefit the coaching team.
Several United players had worked with Holland for the national team, including Harry Maguire. The defender recently explained how the veteran coach would help improve the basics on the defensive side.
“Well, I’ve spoke about it a lot this year, in both boxes I think we’ve been really poor,” Maguire told Sky Sports before the City clash last week. “We haven’t defended our box well at all this year, conceded far too many soft goals.
“I can remember a lot of time working with Steve and he really does drill in tactically how to defend. Basics really but really disciplined basics and I think he’s going to have a big part to play in making our defensive record a lot better.”
Lammens agrees with Maguire on improvements
This message has since been echoed by Senne Lammens following the win at Arsenal. “It’s just like sticking to the basics,” the goalkeeper told reporters. “Football is basics. If you do the basics well, then the quality of us comes out, and I think we have players with the quality that can make the difference.
“But if you just do the basics right technically, we’re standing right, defending good together. And just [playing] as a team, to be honest, he [Carrick] made it really clear what he wants from us and what he expects from us.”
Sometimes, football is made out to be a lot more complicated than it actually is, and it seems that Holland has helped bring some simplicity to United’s defence.
The Reds looked so vulnerable at the back earlier this season and it was the biggest priority to address for whoever was in charge. It looks like we are seeing improvements and it needs to keep going in the right direction.
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