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Getting Back on Track: How Carrick Steadied the Ship at United
Manchester United aren't suddenly world-beaters again, but under Michael Carrick's brief spell in charge, they've at least started looking like a proper football team. After months of seeming completely lost, the lads have pulled off impressive results against Manchester City and Arsenal. The difference? Carrick's ditched all the philosophical hand-wringing about what United "should" be and instead focused on the basics—working hard, winning the scrappy battles in midfield, and not letting top teams settle into their rhythm.
What's actually changed is fairly straightforward. The players now seem to understand what they're supposed to be doing, which is more than you could say a few weeks ago. Against the best sides, they've made themselves compact, difficult to play through, and haven't given away cheap space. There's been a mental shift too. When they went behind at Arsenal, they didn't collapse like a house of cards as they might have done previously. They kept their heads, stayed in the fight, and when Arsenal got sloppy, United pounced. Bryan Mbeumo's winning goal wasn't just a nice moment—it showed the players are genuinely buying into this high-energy, quick-transition style that Carrick wants.
It's early days, mind you. But Carrick's managed to swap confusion and inconsistency for something that looks like old-fashioned United grit dressed up in modern tactics. The team's got a backbone again, which is a start. Whether it lasts is another question entirely, but for now, they've stopped the rot and given themselves something to build on.