Man Utd weakness exposes ‘ambitious aim’ set by Carrick, INEOS; Neville, Keane to be proven right | OneFootball

Manchester United have an ‘ambitious aim’ to seal Champions League qualification without making a winter signing, but this is only doable on one condition.

A large portion of the Man Utd contingent have got rather excited following Saturday’s 2-0 Manchester derby victory, and they should not be begrudged for that because their good days have been limited post-Sir Alex Ferguson.

After 14 months of misery under former head coach Ruben Amorim, interim boss Michael Carrick contributed to United providing a tease for supporters of what may be to come in the future.

As Wayne Rooney has pointed out, it only took a couple of subtle changes from Carrick to inspire Man Utd’s best performance of the season by some margin, and they are now heading into the final 16 games of the 2025/26 campaign with renewed optimism regarding their chances of Champions League qualification.

United currently sit fifth in the table and a point adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool, with it looking increasingly likely to be these two teams and Chelsea battling it out for the final Champions League places behind Aston Villa, Manchester City and Arsenal.

With the win against Man City, the Red Devils took the rare step of actually taking a chance to (briefly) move into the top four, as their severe lack of consistency has undermined their season.

And now that Carrick’s side has set a new standard to replicate in their remaining games, it is on the players to do something that they have consistently failed to do in the days since Ferguson’s retirement; ensure a performance, a la against Man City, is not a false dawn.

We have been here before on countless occasions with Man Utd, who have become renowned for showing fleeting signs of promise before reverting to their shambolic type once again.

This is why Gary Neville, who has refused “to get giddy or carried away”, or Roy Keane, who has told a fellow pundit to “calm down” regarding Carrick’s start, are likely to be proven right to be pessimistic regarding Man Utd, who have constantly let people down since being dethroned.

Man Utd’s squad showed against Man City that they are capable of producing the necessary performances to fend off Liverpool and Chelsea for the Champions League, but this is reliant on Carrick getting more out of the playing staff than most managers since Ferguson, and history tells us that they will underdeliver more often than not.

This is why INEOS and Carrick are naive to have the ‘ambitious aim’ of qualifying for the Champions League without making a signing to improve their fragile midfield this month, with ‘United’s hierarchy confident he can deliver on their ambitions despite limitations in the transfer market’, according to our pals at TEAMtalk.

The report explains: ‘Sources have told us that although Amorim had informed United’s decision-makers that a new midfielder would be crucial to boosting their chances of European qualification, Carrick believes the squad is capable of achieving that goal without further reinforcements.

‘United will remain open-minded about market opportunities that could strengthen the squad – particularly if a midfielder with Premier League experience becomes available. But with Carrick of the belief that United can achieve their aims without a new midfield addition, United may indeed decide against bringing anyone in.’