Manchester United's Dominance Over City Offers Hope
The expectation under Ruben Amorim was gradual progress, but yesterday's performance against Manchester City represented the finest display from a Manchester United side in years, raising questions about the direction of the rebuild and whether Carrick can sustain this momentum.
A Statement Performance Against City
I was sad to see Amorim go the way he did. I could genuinely see progress under him. That said, yesterday's game was by far the best performance we have seen from a United side in years.
United absolutely battered City. I saw a stat this morning that highlights just how much of a walloping it was: that was both the most xG in an English Premier League any side has managed against City since Pep became their manager, and it was also the biggest difference in xG that City have been on the wrong side of since Pep took over.
In short, no team has limited Pep's team to so few chances while also creating so many against them. If the scoreline was 5-0, no one would have batted an eyelid or said it wasn't deserved.
Reasons for Optimism
We've had a lot of doom and gloom on here this season, some of it justified, but a lot of it not, in my opinion. So it's good to have some positivity here. A few takeaways from the game (while appreciating that it was just one game).
Dorgu has been quietly excellent on the left wing in the last few games, with both Carrick and Fletcher playing him there. He looks like a different player and could become very important as that powerful overlapping player who pulls the opposition wide. Too many teams play with inverted wingers and while they have a fullback overlap, everyone and their dog knows that it's just a decoy run. Having an attacking player who is genuinely happy to go around the outside does offer us something different in attack.
Mainoo was excellent yesterday. The slightly less hectic midfield, more controlling role under Carrick probably suits him much more than Amorim's energetic and chaotic role. Hopefully he can find his debut season form again, or better.
Amad: The Key to Everything
While a lot of money has been spent on Cunha, Sesko and Mbeumo, and rightfully as we needed it, for me Amad is actually our most important attacking player. He is the brains, the technical magician. His movements are smarter, his touch crisper, and his decision making almost faultless. While Mbeumo, Sesko and Cunha bring much-needed pace and power to our attack, Amad adds the intelligence and class.
The Rebuild: Back Four vs. Back Three
While I'm still sad to see Amorim leave, I can't help but feel that the rebuild of this squad requires less work with a back four system than it does a 3-4-3 shape.
We still need at least two midfielders, as well as another striker to replace Zirkzee and give Sesko some competition, then depending on where the next permanent manager wants to play Dorgu, either a left winger or a left-back. Meaning four players is probably enough to have a strong first team, with maybe a couple more for squad depth added as well.
But the 3-4-3 probably needed three midfielders with Mainoo possibly leaving, it needed another centre-back, a striker, and either a left winger or a wing-back. Which is six to seven players to have a strong first team, while also still needing a couple more for squad depth.
Carrick and the Director of Football Model
It'll be interesting to see how Carrick does, and while I won't say he should get the job on the back of a good first game, in theory at least the idea of giving him the role long term should be less detrimental than it was under Ole.
If the club's plan is to have a Director of Football whose job it is to work above the manager to build the squad and set the style of play, then the manager role becomes less important in terms of them being the big boss who sets the club up, and more important is how well the manager works with the DoF.
Quite clearly that relationship broke down between Amorim and Wilcox. No doubt neither of them covered themselves with glory over that, and both need to take a proportion of the blame.
However, if Carrick's ideas align well with those of Wilcox and Vivell, then there is little reason why they can't be successful.
The Long Game
The club is in the process of a three to four year rebuild. My worry when Amorim was hired was that I didn't expect the manager who started the rebuild to last until the end. There was always going to be backwards steps while the old squad was dismantled, and inconsistency while the new one was built.
Ultimately, whoever is our next manager might not be the guy to bring us back to the top. He might be the guy who does 80-90% of the work that is left to do, before being replaced with the guy who adds the finishing touches and lifts us to glory. Maybe that's Carrick, more likely it's someone else.
But at the very least, I'm going to be floating on air this week after yesterday's performance with a smile from ear to ear. That's got to be worth something.
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