The Carrick era
Carrick's ideas of controlled build up and central progression are closer to how a top team should impose control than what came before, but the final third is left to roles and instincts and the resulting attack has turned static.
The posts
- Tactical analysis Carrick's basic positional attack has made United static A fundamentally different in-possession ideology has produced familiar output: plenty of entries into the box, few quality chances, and nowhere to run.
- Opinion Carrick's struggles don't vindicate Amorim or Ten Hag The nostalgia for the previous two managers ignores that their problems were ideological, not executional, and that recruitment was built around the same flaws.
- Opinion United are repeating their Hojlund mistake with Sesko Bought for direct GK to CF progression and duels for long balls, Sesko is now used as a deep passing outlet in an unbalanced team.
- Match analysis Dalot goes forward again One sequence in the Manchester derby shows how United's best run behind a set City block came from a full-back, while the centre-forward drifted away from the box.
- Tactical analysis The Carrick approach Carrick’s in-possession ideology is detailed in the first two phases and deliberately loose in the final third; the worry is out of possession.
- Opinion The Carrick decision The results justify continuity, but without tactical knowledge and authority above the manager, United risk repeating the ETH and Amorim pattern.