Man Utd and Carrick cannot fail after longest mid-season break for 111 years | OneFootball

Three months after their season appeared to be all but over, Manchester United have manoeuvred themselves into an enviable position as the Premier League’s best of the rest behind the two title contenders. It’s all coming up Carrick, right?

It is hard to think what more the interim boss could have done to make himself impossible to ignore when United choose their permanent manager this summer. Under his stewardship, the Red Devils have gone from one bad weekend away from the bottom half to third place with a seven-point cushion to spare in the race for a Champions League place.

For United to have been the best team in the Premier League since he took over represents a remarkable turnaround. One that says as much about Carrick’s steady hand as it does about the folly of Ruben Amorim.

But the interim boss faces a different type of scrutiny now. Quite simply, United have no excuses for not finishing as strong as Carrick has started.

A Champions League place perhaps represented overachievement when the ex-midfielder returned to Old Trafford to take the reins from Darren Fletcher, left holding them when they were prised from Amorim. Now, if they don’t qualify for the Champions League, or even if they just claw their way back to Europe’s top table, it could be viewed at best as an anti-climax or, worse, an implosion.

Carrick could already claim to be a victim of his own success, if he were the type to look for excuses. But the unique set of circumstances around United’s run-in leaves him with none anyway.

The Red Devils have been afforded an almost unprecedented run-up at their run-in. While clubs around them attempt to wearily go through the gears in time for the business end of the season, United are in the midst of their own spring break.

A 24-day breather is really United’s reward for previous failures that are no fault of Carrick. No European football and domestic cup exits at the earliest possible stages has made for the club’s longest scheduled break between fixtures in 111 years.

United faced Bournemouth prior to the international break in the earliest Premier League slot and return to action against Leeds United next Monday in the latest.

While United have had their feet up, Arsenal have played four games: a Carabao Cup final, an FA Cup quarter-final, a Champions League quarter-final and an all-important Premier League clash as they seek to shake off their bottlers tag.

More relevant to United and their Champions League hopes, Liverpool too will have played four matches while Chelsea and Aston Villa have played three times.

Indeed, United’s current 24-day break between games is longer than Chelsea’s off-season last summer and longer than Manchester City’s pre-season.

Of course, the international break was as much of an inconvenience to United as it was to the rest of us. But the only player involved in action of any consequence beyond friendlies was Altay Bayindir, the substitute goalkeeper watching Turkey’s World Cup qualifying play-offs from his natural habitat on the bench.

Those on international duty were then given a few days off before reconvening for a trip to Ireland, where Carrick and his staff have that rare commodity that coaches crave: time on the grass.

At a time when most managers must make do with keeping their players ticking over while support staff fret over red zones, United are able to undergo an ‘intensive’ four-day training trip, a mini pre-season before the run-in, giving Carrick and his players the opportunity to hone their physical and tactical shapes, while marginal gains appear beyond the means of many of their busier rivals.

If United were to claim they were playing the long game, being completely rotten through 2025 to give themselves a competitive advantage in 2026, you would have to say they played a blinder.

They have already benefited from longer periods of inactivity, with 12 days in February before the win at Everton, then 11 days last month to prep for a big win over Aston Villa, who were 11 points clear of United when Carrick came in and prompted a 12-point swing.

That success and a unique schedule leaves United and Carrick with no excuses at a time many managers are going through their full repertoire. Anything less than a serene march from here to the Champions League could give United the excuse they need to hire a manager with the type of profile they probably had in mind when Carrick was asked to keep the hot seat warm.