Image Credit: @footballontnt Twitter

Is it still the new Head Coach bounce or are times finally changing for Manchester United? Michael Carrick was appointed as Man Utd’s interim Head Coach to see out the remainder of the 2025/2026 season. Man Utd have only played 4 games under the new interim head coach and in those 4 games Man Utd have seemingly transformed into a completely brand new team. A team that plays with confidence, creativity, a more attacking brand of football and of course a team that can win consecutive back-to-back games. Man Utd have won 4 games in a row under Michael Carrick’s leadership and those wins have catapulted The Red Devils into 4th place in the league which puts them as front runners for one of the UEFA Champions League qualifying positions.

What Changed?

"Micheal Carrick has found a system that suits his players, instead of looking for players who suits his system". This was a statement made by a commentator during Man Utd’s game against Fulham and it perfectly sums up why there has been a drastic change in Man Utd following Ruben Amorim’s departure. During the Portuguese head coach’s tenure at Man Utd, it was very well known that Ruben Amorim favoured his 3-4-3 system and has claimed on numerous occasions that he would never change his system for any reason. In 47 Premier League games Ruben Amorim could only accumulate 15 wins and the former Sporting CP manager had an unwanted record of struggling to win back-to-back Premier League games with Man Utd only winning 3 games back-to-back during Amorim’s entire tenure. Despite all the criticism and poor results Ruben Amorim was adamant that his 3-4-3 formation and his system were not the problem, and the actual problems were in minor details in matches or that he did not have the right players needed for his system.

As the quote mentioned, Michael Carrick found a system that suits the players he has and it has shown to produce the results expected of a club like Manchester United who do not have the busy schedule of European football. The Man Utd legend uses a Premier League classic 4-2-3-1 formation which suits the players he has as it now allows the players to play in their more natural positions such Bruno Fernandes playing as an Attacking Midfielder instead of a more Central Midfielder in a midfield double pivot, Amad playing as a Right Winger instead of playing as Right Wingback, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot playing as fullbacks instead of as a Centre Back and Wingback respectively, and Bryan Mbeumo playing a Striker/Winger instead of as an Attacking Midfielder. Carrick has even continued the little experiment Ruben Amorim started with playing Patrick Dorgu as a Winger rather than as a Wingback which has resulted in the Danish international scoring 2 goals for Man Utd against derby rivals.

Life After Amorim

Not only has Michael Carrick changed the formation and tactics of Manchester United, he has also reintegrated Kobbie Mainoo back into the starting XI and has played him in the midfield alongside Casemiro. Mainoo has also produced results for Man Utd with good midfield performances combined with his 2 assists in his last 4 starts. Michael Carrick’s first 4 games in charge of Man Utd were not easy as Man Utd were set to face 3 of the “Big 6” Premier League teams in Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. As mentioned many times already, Michael Carrick’s Man Utd won all their games against City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham with the numbers looking as such:

  • Goals Scored – 10
  • Goals Conceded – 4
  • Clean Sheets – 2
  • Goal Difference – +4 to +10
  • Points Won – 12/12
  • League Position – 7th to 4th

Another statistic would be that Michael Carrick as done in 4 games what Ruben Amorim could not do with 47 and that is win 4 Premier League matches in a row. Man Utd had not won 4 Premier League matches in a row since February 2024 when Man Utd were still managed under Erik Ten Hag as well as Man Utd had not won a game against Tottenham since October 2022. Michael Carrick has managed to end both unwanted records with his first attempt at asking and with no European football or domestic cup competitions, Man Utd’s full focus and preparation time is centered around trying secure Champions League football for next season.

TheUnitedStrand Haircut

Manchester United play again this week on Tuesday night against West Ham United in the London Stadium and on the surface this game is important to Man Utd in their quest to secure Champions League football however it also a chance to end a very viral challenge with a win. Content Creator and boyhood Man Utd fan, Frank Llett started a challenge all the way back in October 2024 and it has stretched all the way to 2026 with the possibility of it finally coming to end on Tuesday night. Frank Llett is better known by his social media handle “TheUnitedStrand” and he started a challenge where he would not cut his hair until Man Utd win 5 Premier League games in a row and it is safe to say that this challenge has gotten the young content creator the viral attention he most likely never thought it would. Llett started this challenge during the 2024/2025 season where Erik Ten Hag was still Head Coach of the club at the time and during a period where United were on a terrible run of form. Since then Man Utd has seen 5 Head Coaches come in and only 1 Head Coach is close to finally ending the challenge, Michael Carrick. The content creator started the challenge with a buzz cut and posted the challenge on the 6th October 2024 when Man Utd were set to face Aston Villa and Llett started posting daily on his Instagram and TikTok the progress of his challenge. His hair grew exceptionally larger over time and it became almost impossible to not recognise him as the “Man Utd haircut guy” with the challenge stretching over 400 days and is now on the verge have reaching 500 unless Man Utd can secure the 3 points over The Hammers this Tuesday night.