Having defied the pre-match predictions of podcasters Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who had unwisely predicted that Erling Haaland would bully him like a grown man playing against a toddler, Lisandro Martinez was in his element. “I think one important thing that Michael Carrick said was ‘use the energy of the people’ and today, I think we did it. When we are together like this, it is impossible to lose at home.”
After the unrelenting grimness of the Ruben Amorim era, Manchester United fans can be forgiven for getting carried away with a 2-0 win against Manchester City that easily could have been 5-0. But how much significance should the legion of executive decision-makers at the club be attaching to this win?
They will know that nearly every post-Alex Ferguson United coach – Amorim, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal – enjoyed big derby victories in their time at United. It’s usually the same kind of game, with City passing the ball around to little effect and United punching holes through their fragile defence with fast attacks.
Pep Guardiola said afterwards that United are “always a transitional team”. They certainly are whenever he sees them up close. “Transitional” is Pep’s favourite way to describe (and diminish) the teams that beat his team. He intends it as a criticism of the lack of real footballing ambition in his opponents – their refusal to play the game the right way, which in Pep terms is controlling midfield with lots of possession. He has stuck to this line for nearly 20 years, never pausing to reflect that it’s also an indictment of his own game model, which, as the whole world knows, is most vulnerable in transition.
READ MORE
Amorim was at least good enough to leave lots of low-hanging fruit around the place to help his successor get started. United no longer have to be obstinately committed to his mistakes, so Bruno Fernandes can go back to his natural position at number 10, opening up a space in midfield for Kobbie Mainoo to help the team on the pitch, instead of looking sad on the bench or in the stands. That the new coach does not obviously hate most of his players also feels like a positive.
Arsenal away next weekend is an even tougher test, but the same kind of gameplan that worked against City could work again. Mikel Arteta’s team have been edging clear of the competition like a tortoise racing against dead tortoises, but the pressure hangs heavy at the Emirates and can work in United’s favour.
And Carrick, remember, has done it before, serving as interim manager for three games following the departure of Solskjaer in 2021. He led the team to victory against Unai Emery’s Villarreal, drew with then-European champions Chelsea, who were coached by Thomas Tuchel, and defeated Arteta’s Arsenal, before the club bosses appointed Ralf Rangnick to coach the rest of the season. If that was an upgrade, it never showed up in the results.
United’s reluctance to simply back Carrick suggests a lack of confidence in their own internal reforms
United have given Carrick a contract until the end of the season, with the implication they will use the time to evaluate other contenders for the job. The arrangement has been greeted with a sense of foreboding by some United fans, who fear they are about to repeat the experience the club went through with Solskjaer.
Wowed by Solskjaer’s instant success in his first few weeks as interim, United signed him up to a permanent deal, only for the team to never rediscover that initial form. But just because something a bit like this has happened before doesn’t mean the same thing is going to happen again.
The fact that Solskjaer ultimately failed at a club that was being chaotically run by Ed Woodward – who randomly signed Cristiano Ronaldo at the start of the 21-22 season – does not mean that any other ex-United player is also destined to fail in the same way, especially since the club is supposedly now being run more sensibly.
Indeed, United’s reluctance to simply back Carrick suggests a lack of confidence in their own internal reforms. According to the logic of the currently-fashionable sporting-director-driven model of football – a model United have belatedly embraced – the head coach is little more than a figurehead. So why not choose a figurehead with whom the fans can identify? “Use the energy of the people.”
Who are the alternatives? Oliver Glasner, who has spectacularly fallen out with his bosses at Crystal Palace (and Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg before them)? Thomas Tuchel, who has fallen out with every club that’s ever employed him? Xabi Alonso, who as a player was once Liverpool’s version of Michael Carrick?
All of these guys were new and inexperienced once. Alonso had no senior coaching experience when Bayer Leverkusen appointed him in the autumn of 2022. A little over three years later he can have his pick of Premier League jobs, despite being sacked by Real Madrid.
Some of United’s peer clubs show more confidence in their appointments. Who are the best coaches in Europe right now? Many would say it’s still Guardiola, some might say Luis Enrique has lately surpassed him.
Both made their reputations and did their best work at Barcelona, who were confident enough to hire them despite meagre previous experience. Guardiola had no senior coaching history when Barcelona appointed him in 2008, Luis Enrique had failed at Roma and then had an undistinguished season at Celta when they entrusted him with the job in 2014.
People at United like to talk about the United way. Maybe they should consider trusting in it.
