Casemiro attributes Man United revival to one person – The Athletic | OneFootball

Casemiro personally thanked Michael Carrick for his influence in the Manchester United midfielder’s revival over the past month, according to a new report.

Carrick the Caretaker

Carrick, 44, took the reins at Old Trafford after INEOS reached the bombshell decision to sack Ruben Amorim at the beginning of January.

Despite 14 months of abject results on the pitch, it was an explosive fall-out off it – between Amorim and sporting director Jason Wilcox – which sealed the Portuguese coach’s fate.

Ruben Amorim managerial stats at Man United

Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher took charge of the senior side while the club’s hierarchy hunted for a permanent caretaker, with Carrick joined by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy as the three frontrunners for the interim role.

But it was the former England international who emerged triumphant from the vetting process, with INEOS understood to be swayed by his tactical acumen and training ground expertise.

It has proven a masterstroke – something of a rarity for INEOS – with the Red Devils picking up three wins on the trot under Carrick in his second spell as caretaker, putting Manchester City and Arsenal to the sword in the process.

By comparison, United had won three matches in the last 11 games of Amorim’s reign, with the system placing certain players in the wrong positions and excluding others from the starting eleven.

Carrick has transformed the mood around the club by reverting to a more natural 4-2-3-1 shape – which puts the team’s star men in their best roles – and employing a calmer approach than his prickly Portuguese predecessor.

At the heart of this transformation has been Casemiro, with the Brazil international producing three outstanding performances in midfield to propel United to victory.

His contributions in the two wins over United’s rivals were more defensive; but he showed every facet of his incredible skillset in the 3-2 win over Fulham, scoring the first with a powerful header and assisting the second with an outrageous ‘no-look’ pass.

Brazilian Behemoth

The Athletic reveals Casemiro has personally “thanked” Carrick for the upturn in his form, stating the 44-year-old coach’s approach has made him “feel like a footballer again”.

The chemistry between the two legendary midfielders was evident after the Manchester Derby, as Casemiro jubilantly hugged Carrick on the pitch at full-time.

The report details that “other senior stars have waxed lyrical” about their new coach – with his training routines and attitude to younger players praised in particular.

But the improvements, for both Casemiro and the team, are tactical as much as personal. Carrick has set United up in a compact 4-4-2 shape out of possession, reducing the amount of space the Brazilian’s ageing legs have to cover – in direct contrast to the chasms he was forced to fill under Amorim and Erik ten Hag.

Carrick’s keen eye on and off the pitch has led Casemiro to rediscover the football which Jamie Carragher notoriously stated had “left him” in May 2024 – and there are fewer greater achievements for a Red Devil than embarrassing a Scouse pundit.

Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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