Big Man Utd summer signing to thrive in new role under Carrick as insider reveals all on tactics | OneFootball

Michael Carrick’s tactics have been explained in detail by a TEAMtalk insider who regularly watched his Middlesbrough side up close, with the implications for several players coming to light.

After Darren Fletcher’s caretaker spell in charge, Carrick has taken the reins at Old Trafford until the end of the season, until Man Utd appoint a permanent replacement for Ruben Amorim. His first game will be the derby against Manchester City on Saturday.

With United out of both cup competitions, Carrick has 17 league games in which to get his ideas across before aiming to be in the mix for the permanent job, as TEAMtalk’s Fraser Fletcher confirmed on Tuesday was his ambition.

And as fans await Carrick’s debut on the touchline, over four years since he was last in caretaker charge of United, his previous spell in charge of Middlesbrough between 2022 and 2025 can provide the only clues as to how he’ll set them up.

TEAMtalk insider Graeme Bailey is a Middlesbrough expert and explained on our latest Facebook Live broadcast what Carrick’s tactics will look like in a United setting.

“Michael Carrick will be playing a 4-2-3-1,” said Bailey. “I’m very well-placed to comment on Michael Carrick having watched him very closely for three years at Middlesbrough. He plays a system that United fans will like, they really will.

“He plays two centre-halves with attacking full-backs. Not wing-backs, attacking full-backs. He plays a two – one of them holding, the other one pushing on.

“Interestingly, what he does with the 10 – this will be fascinating to see what he does – he plays a 10 behind the front 9, and then the two players wide of that can be either inverted or wide. Marcus Forss played there in the first year, then there was Riley McGree inverted. Chuba Akpom threw in a sensational season, his first season at Middlesbrough where he scored over 30 goals. He often played behind the frontman. Towards the end it was Cameron Archer who was there.

“So that number 10, I think Michael Carrick would love to play Matheus Cunha there. I think that would fit him down to the ground. But I think actually, he likes the frontmen, he likes a target man, so I think this squad will suit Carrick.

“What he does with the two holding players will be interesting. Is it a Casemiro, is it a Kobbie Mainoo coming back? There are links to Ruben Neves, there is interest there, we know that. I think if Neves came in, he would play that pivot, which he does like, Michael Carrick. He likes a Michael Carrick type of player in that role!

“When he plays a two, unlike Amorim, it’s not two sitters, so Bruno could play as one of the two and just be a normal #8. Bruno could play that role. Although it looks similar to what Amorim does, it’s not, it’s a very different system, and I think they’re made for it.

“You’ve got Amad to come back in, Amad and Mbeumo either side of Cunha, behind Sesko, I think Carrick would love to play that. Bruno Fernandes with a Neves, Mainoo or a Casemiro.

“I think Michael Carrick’s going to suit the squad down to the ground, I really do. I think the players will react to him, I think they’ll respect him. They know he was a world-class performer.

“He can alter things as well. He can play a two where they’re sitting if they need to, so they can play defensively.

“He very rarely played a three, so you won’t see much of that, which I guess comes as a relief to some United fans, having that pushed down their throat for the last 18 months.

“I think we might see a bit of a bounce. I’m not going to say against City, but I think we might see a Michael Carrick bounce and then the conversation’s going to be very interesting, let’s see how he does in the next few months.

“I think Michael Carrick will fancy his chances of being the long-term manager here if he’s in the mix. I think the squad does suit him.

“I was always told he was very happy in Cheshire, his lifestyle, his son’s in the academy. I was always told that he would like a job within the club, maybe a bit like a Fletcher but not really day to day.

“I think he would like to be involved. Being Manchester United manager is pressure. I think he wants to be involved in the club and it’s his ideal way to get back in. We’ll see how he does, see how the players react to him and Jason Wilcox gets a chance to work with him, he’s a very charming man, intelligent, he’ll win the fans over.

“What United fans will like is he doesn’t get too high when they’re winning, doesn’t get too low when they’re losing. As we’ve already seen, he’s a very capable man. He’s had his experience at Middlesbrough and if he’s learnt his lesson, I think he’ll be a very serious candidate if he wants to be.”

Man Utd directors slammed for Amorim dispute

Although Carrick is now in place, the dust is still settling on Amorim’s sacking earlier this month.

Amorim had raised frustrations about not having as much influence on transfers as he would have liked – labelling himself a manager rather than a coach – before United chose to dismiss him.

Yet to make a January signing, United chiefs deserve more scrutiny to be coming their way, according to Dean Jones.

“They’ve been crying out for a midfielder and Ruben Amorim will be wondering why that didn’t happen,” Jones said. “If they could have just stayed calm, Berrada and Wilcox, and just got through that moment with Ruben Amorim and managed it better, all they needed really was to sign a midfielder, which he was asking for, and they would have made the top five this season.

“And now because he’s had a bit of tantrum, they’ve thought it’s all blown up, and they’ve ended up kicking him out the door. I think the pressure should be falling onto them a little bit now, because it’s all very well Amorim having all the stick about his own tactics, Wilcox admitting that he’s a coach himself so he finds it hard not to get involved with tactics, but it’s not your job. You can’t then say that Amorim shouldn’t be getting involved in transfers, because why shouldn’t he?

“If you’re getting involved in the tactics, why shouldn’t Amorim have a say on transfers? I do think it needs to be a two-way street.

“Obviously it doesn’t matter now, because Amorim’s gone, but I think there should be pressure on Vivell, Berrada and Wilcox to now sort this out, figure out who comes into the team, but do you buy a player without knowing who the manager is? Can you do that?”

From here on out, it will be interesting to see if United make use of the January transfer window for new signings without yet knowing who their manager will be next season.