Manchester United was a mess! Then Michael Carrick showed up, and the team started winning. Surely, this is the result of some genius tactical manoeuvring on his part? But, wait! Given a whole transfer window and a few hundred million to spend, United seem to be back to their lowest ebb.
It’s still early. But it’s time to look at Carrick’s tactical philosophy for Manchester United, or indeed, identify if the lack of one is the key to the team’s recent success.
This might also be the ideal time to start up on those Premier League fantasy football contests in FootballCoin! They’re free, and, should you prove your worth just as Carrick has, you’ll earn substantial prizes, too. What’s not to like?
Pre-managerial career
There’s not a lot to say here, but why is that a bad thing necessarily? In fact, if you’re busy counting, this is the third time that Michael Carrick has held a role on the Manchester United bench.
As a player, Carrick was an understated but excellent midfielder brought to Old Trafford from Tottenham with a view to finding a replacement for mercurial captain Roy Keane. He played 316 games for United, and over 500 in the Premier League.
He won the EPL title five times, the Champions League and the Europa League. Carrick was the English version of Andrea Pirlo, yet never treated as a star. To his credit, the former midfield maestro seems to have always enjoyed the lack of unwanted attention.
In fact, he was so respected that he wasn’t even asked to leave the club after professional retirement. Carrick was appointed to Jose Mourinho’s staff and served as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s assistant, along with Kieran McKenna. In November 2021, he served as caretaker manager of Manchester United for the first time and did well.
His only other job as a senior manager has been for Championship club Middlesbrough, a job that entailed working with fewer resources. He led the team to tenth place in the league and got sacked.
Football Philosophy
Do we have enough sample size of data to make up our minds over Carrick’s football philosophy? Possibly. Carrick is a fresh manager, but has had over 140 games in charge.
Ideally, Michael Carrick likes to play a two-pivot system, play through the middle, and let the players’ talent do most of the work. That, naturally, suggests that working with higher-calibre players can only help his style of football.
Middlesbrough tended to sit in a mid-block, build up from the back, and had the central defenders and midfielders shouldering much of the responsibility regarding progressing the ball.
Carrick prefers to play a 4-2-3-1, the most popular formation in English football today. This system can easily transition to a 4-4-2 when needed.
At Manchester United, Carrick has so far chosen the 4-2-3-1, had the team play through the middle, played with two pivots comfortable on the ball, and allowed Bruno Fernandes free rein to attempt through balls as often as he wished.
The team sits patiently in defence before springing into a counter-attack, or plays through the middle looking for a killer through ball. It’s measured, conservative football that, so far, gets results.
Carrick’s Defensive System
Back at Middlesbrough, Carrick’s tactics eventually settled on a mid-block. The striker and playmaker would press the central defenders from the front, and wider players were encouraged to aggressively intervene on the flanks.
When forced to also move forward, the full-back’s role would be covered by one of the two pivots. Ideally, out of possession, Carrick wanted to squeeze space and prevent the opponent from playing through the lines.
What are Carrick’s defensive system requirements for the 2026/27 season? Why are things failing to work?
To my mind, the poor defensive record of the 26/27 season is due to changes in personnel. Patrick Dorgu has returned to the left flank, the attack-minded Youri Tielemans takes the place of the more conservative Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez is back from injury. These changes have jammed United’s system for the moment. This may change.
There’s also the matter of the pressing. Early in the season, Carrick implemented a more aggressive pressing system, often going 4-2-4 out of possession. Does Carrick have the personnel for that? Yes, and no. The players are willing and fit, but lapses in concentration have snuck into most games.
What about that famous gaping hole in midfield? Will the players brought in to replace Casemiro fix that? Carlos Baleba, when fit, may offer a solution. The current midfield double pivot creates the same problems as before, although I predict both Tielemans and Santos can adapt to their defensive requirements for the 26/27 season.
If anything, it was Carrick’s earliest days as manager that gave the best indication of what he wants from his team.
In his first games back in charge, Carrick made two small but vital defensive tweaks. He moved the players back to a 4-2-3-1, following Ruben Amorim‘s unfortunate experimentation with a back three. And, he chose players natural to their positions (except for Patrick Dorgu playing as a winger). These two things meant that United was much stronger in the press and much less likely to commit mistakes.
Carrick’s Manchester United sits patiently in a low block, gets the wingers to drop down on the flanks, and has the striker and playmaker trying to break down the passing lanes of the opposition, building from the back.
Build-up Style
Michael Carrick was one of the most dependable central midfielders in the whole of football. He was, first and foremost, a great passer of the ball. That’s perhaps why he ignored the prerequisite that Championship teams should play direct football, instead focusing on playing short passes through the middle, punctuated by the occasional through ball. At Boro, however, Carrick couldn’t depend on players such as Bruno Fernandes or Casemiro.
Carrick attempted to burn Middlesbrough into a counter-attacking team. But the results forced him to reconsider. United, on the other hand, has players who can quickly move the ball upfield, usually through the centre, once the midfield regains possession.
However, when faced with a team sitting back in defence, United will build from the back. Typically, the highly experienced Casemiro will drop back between the central defenders to receive the ball. One of the wingers may also move centrally, while the full back covers for them. This gives Casemiro a number of options for where to play the next pass.
For the 26/27 season, United found it difficult to extract creativity from this rebuilt midfield. Why? Tielemans and Mainoo, after all, are brilliant ball carriers under pressure.
But so what? Most of United’s attacking plays happen on the flanks and end with Marcus Rashford or Bryan Mbeumo crossing the ball for Matheus Cunha. It’s hardly innovative stuff.
As always in recent seasons, United will depend on Bruno Fernandes, playing centrally, behind the striker, to come up with something special. Creativity beyond that? United needs more bravery for it.
Carrick’s Vision for Manchester United’s Attack
In a perfect game, Carrick’s United will patiently attack the opposition around the box. The winger may move inside, and the full-back may cover for him. Ideally, the team will pass short and quickly until an opening for the striker can be found.
And, fortunately, at Man. Utd Carrick has both the playmaker to attempt the eventual killer pass in Fernandes, and the strikers capable of finding space and shooting from difficult angles, in Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko.
The 26/27 season is proving frustrating in terms of attacking play. Take, for example, the Manchester derby against City on September 13th. United played with an extra man for most of the match. The few goal opportunities that United had came from playing on the flanks. Rashford and Mbeumo’s speed was used to cross to Cunha or Sesko.
There are also moments when Dorgu (or Dalot) will come on the outside of the flank. What do they do when they do get the ball on the byline? They cross with a success rate that’s not enough to build a whole game plan around.
Indeed, much of the attacking success of United in those early games when Carrick was in charge was down to individual flair. Whether it was allowing Patrick Dorgu or Mattheus Cunha to take shots from outside the box, letting Bryan Mbeumo hang onto the ball a few seconds longer, or relying on Benjamin Sesko to confuse his marker with a fake run behind him, Carrick trusts his players. And why shouldn’t he?
In this, we find the most important difference between Michael Carrick (or, indeed, Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer) and Ruben Amorim or Erik Ten Hag. Carrick, like his mentor, Alex Ferguson, places players in their best positions, offers them a good deal of freedom, and has the patience to see a game out. Why shouldn’t players transferred for tens of millions of dollars not instinctively know how to make the best choice when on the ball?
What’s Next for Carrick and for Manchester United?
What more does a football manager have to do other than win football games? Michael Carrick had a great winning record in his first season. Things changed at the start of the 26/27 campaign.
Personally, I predict things will improve once the team’s new recruits settle in. However, the team’s attacking patterns and the pressing triggers are quite predictable at the moment.
However, consistency, to my mind, can turn Carrick into United’s manager for years to come. Even a Europa League team finish could help him keep his job.
Pundits like Roy Keane believe that Manchester United deserves a top-name manager, someone to get the fans truly excited about the club’s potential. But hasn’t United had those? Hasn’t it had EPL-proven managers and hot-shot youngsters?
Carrick has proven that sometimes what old, established clubs need is someone who knows how they work from the inside.
