Carrick ignoring easy fix for his first big mistake in charge of Man United | OneFootball

The Michael Carrick who masterminded Manchester United’s explosive derby win over City could only walk on water for so long.

As time passed and the sheen began to tarnish, a buoyant United slowly lapsed back into familiar patterns of stodgy underachievement, even as their grip on a Champions League place for next season tightened.

Inevitable United

There was perhaps an inevitability about this, given how entrenched the lack of dynamism and creativity was under Ruben Amorim; it takes more than a different coach to erase things from muscle memory, more than a new hymn sheet to forget the old words.

And it turned out that his interim replacement could only hold back the tide for so long. By the time Newcastle United handed him his first – and currently only – defeat in charge of the club it looked like, for all his best efforts, the Red Devils had come full circle.

Mbeumo mistake

But to his credit United have rallied since that setback, beating top-four rivals Aston Villa and drawing at Bournemouth with much improved performances.

Much improved but still flawed, and if Carrick could be forgiven that generalised falloff in form, his decision to stick with Bryan Mbeumo despite his nosediving performances is becoming a problem entirely of his own making.

Since arriving at Old Trafford in the summer Mbeumo has never been named on a United bench – he has either started, or has been playing at AFCON. Carrick seems in no mood to interfere with the Cameroonian’s record, but in persisting with Mbeumo he is making his first clear and obvious error as United boss.

Sesko solution

No United player has scored more than the 26-year-old’s ten goals this season, but he has now gone six games without scoring while often playing at centre-forward. In that time, specialist striker Benjamin Sesko has bagged four to draw level with him, and played only one full 90.

Unusually for a United boss Carrick has the luxury of choice in who he deploys at number 9 – and can take some personal credit for lighting the touchpaper on Sesko’s United career – but he seems unwilling to exercise it.

His reluctance to use the Slovenian as much more than a super sub is perplexing at face value, but in the context of Mbeumo’s dire form is starting to look like negligence.

The former Brentford man is neither a bad player nor a bad signing, but he is absolutely having a bad moment right now – rotating him is the right move for player and team, and should not be controversial.

Carrick has the perfect replacement champing at the bit on the bench, and must make the switch for next month’s clash with Leeds United to draw a line under his curious act of micro-self-sabotage and keep himself in the running for the permanent position.

Feature image Lewis Storey via Getty Images

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