The results of an interim boss can be misleading. Manchester United know that better than most. It’s easy to get seduced by a former fan favourite during a honeymoon period.
However, while there are legitimate doubts over whether Michael Carrick is really the right man for arguably the toughest role in football, what we can say is that his job interview couldn’t be going much better.
He’s picked up more points than any other Premier League manager since taking over on January 13. As a result, United are now within touching distance of qualifying for the Champions League – something which looked like a pipe dream for a team toiling under Ruben Amorim during the first half of the season.
Carrick, though, has instilled clarity, cohesion and character in the squad. The ex-England international suffered his first serious setback on Monday night, with United losing at home to Leeds United, but the response at Stamford Bridge was absolutely outstanding.
Carrick knew he’d have to travel to London without suspended duo Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire, as well as long-term absentee Matthijs de Ligt, but then he also had to leave Lenny Yoro at home due to injury.
Despite having the heart ripped out of his defence, Carrick managed to pick up a vital win – and a first clean sheet for five games – with 19-year-old Ayden Heaven playing alongside full-back Noussair Mazraoui.
“There was a lot of work that had to go into the last day or so in terms of prepping the team with a new back four,” Carrick told TNT Sports afterwards. “I thought Ayden Heaven and Noussair Mazraoui coming in were incredible, Ayden being such a young age and Noussair not really playing centre-back in a back four. I have to give the coaching staff a lot of credit for getting the boys ready for that.”
Carrick deserves his fair share of the credit, too, because even accounting for the new-manager bounce, taking over a team midway through a season is never easy…
