Man United vs Chelsea Tactical: Carrick general will be the key to victory | OneFootball

Manchester United travel to Stamford Bridge this weekend to face Chelsea in a season-defining showdown in the hunt for Champions League qualification. However, they will have to do so with a gaping chasm at the heart of their defence, and are still smarting from the humiliation of suffering their first loss to Leeds United at Old Trafford in 45 years.

The Red Devils had the chance to effectively wrap up a return to Europe’s elite competition against the Yorkshire side on Monday night. United are currently third, seven points clear of their London rivals, with both teams sharing the same goal difference of +12.

Victory over the club’s arch-nemesis earlier would have afforded a 10-point cushion over the Blues heading into Saturday night’s clash, with the Premier League’s coefficient ranking ensuring the race for ‘top four’ is now for ‘top five’.

Instead, they produced one of the poorest performances of the campaign and undoubtedly the worst of Michael Carrick’s caretaker tenure. Leeds blew the home side away in a frantic opening 45 minutes, establishing a 2-0 lead – a scoreline which flattered United – heading into half-time.

Bizarrely, Carrick opted against making any substitutes during the interval, sending the same unchanged XI back out for the second half, with little change in performance as a result. A red card for Lisandro Martinez in the 55th minute sparked a transformation, however, with United improving almost out of spite at a VAR decision Carrick called “one of the worst” he had seen.

This resurgence led to Casemiro pulling one back, courtesy of Bruno Fernandes’ 17th assist of a stellar individual campaign. The pair then went close to levelling proceedings late on, only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to clear the Brazil international’s header off the line.

Truthfully, Daniel Farke’s men deserved all three points, securing a pivotal 2-1 win in their push to avoid relegation in a dogfight with Nottingham Forest, West Ham and, hilariously, Tottenham Hotspur.

However, the loss cranks the pressure up on United – and Carrick, whose long-term future has been called into question by the performance – ahead of the crucial clash with Chelsea. The lingering effects of the match will also be felt this weekend, as Martinez will be ruled out alongside the experienced duo of Harry Maguire, also unavailable through suspension, and Matthijs de Ligt, who is still recovering from a long-term back injury.

This means the youthful partnership of Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, yet to start a match under Carrick, are in line to start against Chelsea in a match United can ill afford to lose. However, stormy waters turned into a tsunami earlier today when it was revealed Yoro had suffered a potentially season-ending injury and had not travelled with the squad to the capital.

Carrick is left with the sole centre-back in his senior squad being his most inexperienced centre-back, forcing a major reshuffle – tactically and personnel-wise – to overcome. The Peoples Person has analysed three ideas the Wallsend native can implement to put Liam Rosenior’s side to the sword and take a massive step towards securing a return to the Champions League, even with a makeshift defence.

Fixing the Defence

The most urgent tactical switch Carrick must make is to bolster a defensive line on the verge of collapsing. Arguably, Heaven’s most impressive performance in a red shirt came earlier in the season in a back four in the 1-0 win over Newcastle under Ruben Amorim. The English starlet is a calm and collected operator, who has handled the ascension to men’s football as coolly as he dresses.

It is not a disaster, nor even a problem, for him to be starting against Chelsea; but he will need every bit of know-how in the support network around him. Luke Shaw must shift inside to play centre-back, a role he has previously thrived in, while Diogo Dalot takes his place at left-back and Noussair Mazraoui starts on the right.

The three fullbacks are seasoned veterans, with a wealth of experience at the highest level of club and international football. Their savvy approach will be needed to help guide Heaven towards an angelic performance, and neither Dalot nor Mazraoui should look to venture too far forward.

Accordingly, more onus will fall upon Matheus Cunha to stay wide and track back, as he did valiantly on Monday night to defend Leeds’ second-half counter-attacks, while Amad will offer his usual industry and inventiveness on the opposite flank.

Staying Compact in Midfield

Casemiro will be United’s most important player at Stamford Bridge, with the “mentality monster” needed to provide a bedrock of security for the side. Carrick should instruct him to drop deeper in possession to take over the responsibility of progressing the ball, which Martinez usually handles.

Similarly, Casemiro’s midfield partners must play as a tighter unit than usual. Kobbie Mainoo will hopefully be fit to form a trio alongside Bruno Fernandes in the middle, and Carrick must position them much closer together than in previous games to form a more traditional three-man midfield, with Casemiro almost playing like a third centre-back, to provide a more compact shield in front of the defence.

The calming presence of Casemiro at the base of midfield will be the most important factor in helping the disjointed defence through a difficult 90 minutes in west London. But it will also be the Brazilian behemoth’s abilities in the opposition half that provide the second part of United’s gameplan to put Chelsea to the sword.

Set Pieces are King

Set-pieces and crosses have been a source of strength for United this season, particularly the potent pairing of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes. No two players have combined for more goals in the Premier League – six – than them, with the header against Leeds a textbook example of their connection.

By contrast, Chelsea are awful at defending aerial bombardments of their box, ranking as one of the worst sides in the division for goals conceded from set-pieces. United must use this to their advantage by looking to maximise every opportunity, be it a corner, free-kick or cross, to overwhelm the Blues’ penalty area – with Casemiro one of the most deadly threats to do so.

Similarly, a choice must be made over whether to start Benjamin Sesko or Bryan Mbeumo. The emphasis on dominating aerially would lend itself to the 6’5″ Slovenian, while the fluidity of the forward line is better with Mbeumo as a false nine, giving Carrick food for thought in his hotel bed in west London.

Being Brave on the Bench

The final tactical switch Carrick must consider is one which has plagued him as far back as his time with Middlesbrough: slow substitutions. One of the biggest criticisms of his spell at the Riverside Stadium was the time it took him to make changes from the bench, despite overwhelming evidence on the pitch to do so.

United fans were privy to this on Monday night in the defeat to Leeds, with analysis from The Athletic revealing Carrick takes the longest to make subs out of any Premier League manager in charge of more than ten games this season.

This cannot be repeated against Chelsea if the Blues take an early lead. Either Mbeumo or Sesko will be joined by Mason Mount and Joshua Zirkzee as attackers chomping at the bit to get on the field; all three, but particularly Mount returning to his former haunt, can make a difference if given the opportunity.

There is little Carrick will be able to do with the depleted backline to mix things up, meaning a focus on attack being the best form of defence is an ethos he will have to adopt if Chelsea are on top at half-time as Leeds were earlier this week.

Key Takeaways

Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images

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The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social