Michael Carrick reveals clever tactical switch that sealed win vs. Brentford | OneFootball

Manchester United boss Michael Carrick has broken down the game-changing half-time tweak that secured his side’s win against Brentford.

United win

United are now just one step away from booking their spot in next season’s Champions League after beating Brentford 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Casemiro broke the deadlock inside 11 minutes when he broke free from his marker to nod home a headed delivery from Harry Maguire.

Benjamin Sesko doubled United’s advantage just before the break as he finished off a sweeping counter-attacking move from the Red Devils, which was started by Amad. Bruno Fernandes assisted Sesko’s strike.

United were solid for the second half and looked on course for a second successive clean sheet, but Mathias Jensen pulled one back for the Bees in added time. Carrick’s men held on for all three points, in what was the manager’s ninth victory since he replaced Ruben Amorim in the Old Trafford dugout.

At half-time, Carrick took off Amad and replaced him with Noussair Mazraoui. United retreated into a three-at-the-back system, which was highly controversial under Amorim. But it worked a treat on this occasion and Carrick revealed the inspiration behind the tweak in his post-match interview with Sky Sports.

Carrick speaks

The legendary midfielder said about the half-time adjustment, “We were going to make it anyway. There were certain spaces we needed to cover a bit better and it had a good effect.”

“It was purely tactical.”

On the performance, he remarked, “It was quite an open game at times. We started fantastically well. Credit to them, they are a good team and we knew they were a good team. They came into the game a little bit and were in a good place at half-time so we tweaked things second half.”

“Towards the end they had a few opportunities but I thought the spirit, effort and togetherness of the players was fantastic. It’s the time of year when it’s a result business and we needed to take points.”

On seeing out the game after Brentford scored, Carrick explained, “It’s a tough finish in a tough league. To get the amount of wins we have, we are delighted with that. Today was all about the three points for us. It’s another win.”

“We have an important game coming up and we can look forward to that.”

Fernandes is now up to 19 assists this season, just one shy of the Premier League record, which is currently held jointly by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry.

Asked about the captain, Carrick answered, “We have scored nearly every game and Bruno is a big part of that. He could have maybe had one more [assist] and scored himself.”

He also spoke to BBC Match of the Day and pointed out, “It was open at times. We started fantastically well. We managed the game and had to see it out. We were pushed tonight but it’s the time of year where results are even more important.”

On Casemiro, Carrick told the news outlet, “He’s scored some big goals for us. Bruno, Harry and Casemiro have a good relationship. We wanted to come out and start quick and look dangerous and creative and we did that.”

“Just before half-time [Sesko’s goal] put us in a good position. The game was never dead. We controlled it with the change at half-time and looked more control and solid. We could have gone for more but I thought there were certain spaces we needed to control better.”

“The boys showed a lot of experience to see the game out. It was a big three points for us and off the back of the Leeds game two wins is great.”

Carrick admitted that United are in “a good position” to secure Champions League football, but insisted the aim is still to accumulate as many points and finish as high as possible in the table.

Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images

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