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Rejoice, Manchester United fans: you have a new manager who has played for the club before. Finally, someone who understands what Old Trafford is about and won't be about to bring any of that three-at-the-back rubbish with him.
Manchester United seem to oscillate wildly between philosophy: David Moyes, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Jose Mourinho were all ‘traditional’ in their tactics, their aura and their will to firmly replicate the Sir Alex Ferguson model for how to manage in the Premier League, with Louis van Gaal, Ralf Rangnick and Ruben Amorim continental choices designed to bring fresh, modern ideas to a club gone stale.
And so, Old Trafford's overton window has shifted back again towards a former Ferguson disciple, with fans wanting to see ‘United DNA’ once again with Michael Carrick. But will the former midfielder even bother to offer the style of play that United fans yearn for?
How will Michael Carrick play at Manchester United?
Whisper it, but Michael Carrick plays with a back three… only in build-up, though. Most often at Middlesbrough, Carrick would operate with a 4-2-3-1, which would morph into a 3-2-5 shape.
One full-back would push on into the line of attack, with another staying behind in the back three: as you can see below, that's the left-back who's bombed ahead, with the right-back building up. The two midfielders would then roam, waiting to pick up the ball from the backline and progress forwards. It's all very modern and Pep Guardiola, isn't it?
There are other similarities with the sky blue side of Manchester. Like most modern coaches – including Pep, yes – Carrick set up his side in a 4-4-2 shape out of possession, with markers pressing zonally.
The Boro boss wanted to be pressed, too. Carrick would often ask for three or four defenders to stay deep and invite pressure during goal-kicks, even with one of Dan Barlaser or Jonny Howson dropping from the double-pivot between the two centre-backs.
No, it's not particularly ‘United DNA’. Those who want attacking football may be pleased to see that no one scored more goals than Boro during Carrick's first season. They ranked high for possession, so there's certainly the intention to be protagonists with the ball.
But according to Opta, Middlesbrough were the third-slowest team in terms of attack during 2022/23. Yes, the stats bods caveat that by adding that, “Only Coventry had more shots from fast breaks than them (21)”.
This isn't their Unai Emery: it's certainly not a second coming of Sir Alex. It's more like Enzo Maresca or Mikel Arteta. United, like others before them, have fallen down the positional play pipeline (not that it's the worst thing in the world).
Who are the winners and losers of Michael Carrick becoming United boss?
Perhaps it's damning on Amorim's philosophy that the biggest winners are the attackers and the biggest losers are the defenders.
There's one fewer centre-back spot up for grabs now, Manuel Ugarte has lost the man who got the best out of him at Sporting, and Bruno Fernandes could well be finally free of playing a deep-lying midfield position, re-deployed as a no.10 at last.
Patrick Dorgu is a big winner, as one of the more dynamic full-backs who will surely be tasked with the role of being the more advanced of the two: Amad Diallo, meanwhile, is surely a loser of Carrick's arrival, given that Amorim's entire system seemingly only benefited him at times.
He will surely have to now play as a right-winger – and compete with Bryan Mbeumo – or be the advanced full-back under the new boss… and he's not really a full-back. Other big casualties would depend on how Carrick adapts his template at Old Trafford: Luke Shaw can surely only play the more conservative full-back role these days, Mason Mount is a fit for left-wing or no.10 depending on whether Fernandes or Cunha start, and several centre-backs (such as Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro) might have futures as full-backs if the other full-back in the system is more attacking.
Arguably the biggest question, however, is around Kobbie Mainoo – and it's not certain that Carrick will rely on him any more than Amorim did.
The 3-2-5 build-up shape of United resembles Amorim's. There are stark differences between how the two managers get to that shape but Mainoo remains likely to play as one of those ‘2’ – and considering he is better suited to a three-man midfield, Carrick may be as reluctant as his predecessor to place the youngster in such an exposed role.
He'll have to hit the ground running: Manchester United take on Manchester City this weekend when Premier League action resumes.
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