26 Apr 2026 12:05:20
I see we're rewriting the Amorim narrative, I saw someone say that he would have got us to 3rd, yet Carrick is achieving pretty much 1 more point per game than Amorim did.
More importantly he has played a back 4, played Bruno as a 10 and restored Mainoo to the team, none of which was rocket science, all of which has had an impact.
Let's be clear, I don't think Carrick is the answer, but an inexperienced coach tweaked formation and selection and now we are third. RA seems like a lovely guy, but he was obstinate in his refusal to see what was in front of him, particularly Mainoo, who has yet to hit the heights but is light years ahead of Ugarte.
He shipped out some problem players but he refused to budge on his style or formation, although rumours are he had agreed to change it before he was sacked, we will never know.
It is possible to think RA and Carrick are both the wrong guys, it doesn't have to be an either or.
If you are still banging the RA drum then I respect your opinion, but I just don't see it.
Carrick has moved us up the table and pretty much guaranteed ECL for next season, even Bruno has expressed surprise at our position, but he is uninspiring and inexperienced, and the football is not great.
When Moyes got the job we talked about him not ticking any of the boxes such as actually having won something, European competition experience, track record of success, the 'right' kind of football, developing young players, Carrick misses most of those as a Manager, as do many others, and other than Enrique, I really do struggle to think of someone who would excite me.
Simeone speaks no English, Nagelsmann was laughed at by the Bayern players, Iraola looks great, but it's a big step up, Poch was once the next big thing but not any more. Mourinho anyone? ?.
26 Apr 2026 12:57:05
It's just such a disingenuous framing. We had an entirely new forward division. The back 4 stuff is just your preference. It is immaterial. There are positives and negatives about every formation. You don't call Carrick stubborn for sticking to the same formation and style. The main problem under RA was that Licha wasn't fit. So Bruno was in the middle. We see the same issues with Carrick when Licha is out, and we can't progress the ball. I agree that he should have played Mainoo in CM earlier, but it is not blazingly clear to me that Mainoo was ready to start regularly.
Under Amorim, we created more chances and had a higher xG per game. We had a lot of luck go against us. Under Carrick, it has been the opposite. We've benefitted from a lot of luck, and it's undeniable our style of play has become far less open.
We moved up 1 or 2 places. That's it. And we could still finish 5th, so that'd be no change in position than under Amorim.
I can point out numerous flaws under Amorim. Mainly, he should've tried Mainoo more; his subs needed to be more proactive, etc. But I thought he was adapting. But I'm disinclined to discuss that way because you, (and a few more), are putting forward a narrative that ignores all the positives that were so obvious to the rest of us.
Maybe it's best to leave RA out of it and focus on the future, but that means not constantly making out like RA was incompetent, etc. I think we are in a much better position because of the decisions he made (loaning out Sancho, Antony, Rashford last year, leaving him with pretty much no attack in order to rebuild last summer, etc).
26 Apr 2026 12:59:45
Anybody saying RA would have done this, that, or the other is as daft as saying he wouldn't.
Neither can be proven, so it's just people trying to defend their previous opinions of when he was here.
I think he did some good things, put us in a much better position before he left in many ways, and made some silly mistakes, and now he is gone.
As for the next choice, Carrick has done well in terms of results as an interim.
I don't think it's enough to give him the job without serious consideration to several other candidates.
I've no preference at this point, but I'm hopeful that other candidates will be strongly considered.
I'm sure that the way things went and ended with RA will have shaken their confidence, but imo it's a time to be patient and brave for our management.
I hope they don't make a knee jerk decision.
Time for cool heads.
26 Apr 2026 13:11:15
I think Poch could be a really good fit for us. He's a nice balance of tactical adaptability and motivation. Seems like he's very good at managing players' egos, and has a non-abrasive personality. I liked what he did with Spurs, despite not being able to keep key players.
With the right coaching team around him, he could work.
Carrick has some of his personable traits. The big difference is that he has a coaching team that is more suited to a defence-first approach. Poch brings something more balanced.
26 Apr 2026 13:27:53
I like Poch, Danny, but he seems to have taken a strange direction.
Don, I know we disagree on this, which is fair enough, but I have no issue with someone being stubborn if they are returning 2 points per game. I'm not fully down on Ra, I absolutely do not think he is incompetent. I pointed out he was rejigging the personnel; I just didn't see where he was taking the team. And, as a lifelong United fan, the formation didn't sit well with me, but that's personnel preference.
And the Carrick-lucky, Amorim-unlucky framing, I'm not sure that stands up to scrutiny given some of the bizarre decisions we have seen lately.
As Ken says, it's done now so we have to look forward, still lots to be decided. It will be interesting to see where Ra goes next and how he does.
26 Apr 2026 13:54:15
Fair enough, AJH. On the lucky vs unlucky, I should point out that this is a more statistical view I'm taking. In that area, if a team constantly underperforms xG, a sizeable amount of that can be attributed to luck, and vice versa. It's obviously not all of it, but it's something that can be modelled to get a fair proportion. It's why I harp back (probably too much) to xG, as it gives a reasonable way to try to understand what is genuine improvement and what is luck. And it tells the clear story that Carrick has done better than performances warranted, and Amorim the opposite. In almost all cases, we see regression to the mean, i.e. in the long term, results correspond to average performances. So I'd expect Carrick to do worse than he is now, and expected results to upturn under Amorim.
What the actual true contribution from either, like Ken said, is not clear, since we don't have enough of a sample for either.
No doubt I'm inclined to give more leeway to Ra because of the change up in the forward division. And don't forget we started the season with Onana in goals, and then Bayindir. We've seen a clear improvement from having a competent keeper, but Lammens also needed time to settle.
I appreciate you saying the formation stuff is personal preference. Like yourself, I really hope we take the right decision with the next manager. I don't think Carrick is the right choice, but I'll back him if he is chosen.
26 Apr 2026 15:42:33
The football world has gotten a lot bigger over the last two decades. With money pouring in and billionaires and literal countries buying clubs, we now have a new wave of clubs with huge ambitions who want to get a seat at the top table.
The flip side is that the pool of elite managers simply can't keep pace with a growing list of rich clubs. Also, the competitiveness of top European football means time isn't a luxury managers are afforded.
Onto our own situation, I don't think we're at the level for an elite manager (like Enrique) to come in and succeed.
We probably need a Carrick to grow the team for another couple of years before we can challenge against the best clubs in Europe.
I'm not a fan of the board and the directors, but they have done well transfer-wise. Probably the 60th time writing this sentence on here over the years, but we're probably 2 or 3 decent windows away from getting close.
I'd let Carrick keep going, slow and steady, to hopefully improve. If he can't win trophies, hopefully he leaves the squad in a better place than he found it, then we push for a coach that has experience of getting over the line.
26 Apr 2026 16:59:21
Mumbles, I think there are signs he won't take the tough decisions we need to progress. Maguire's contract extension, for example. He's 3rd or 4th in our CB pecking order, but plays more often due to injuries to others. We don't win a league with him starting regularly. Another example is his comments about possibly reintegrating Rashford.
The Maguire one I partly understand, especially if he signed on the understanding he'll be backup and on a very reduced salary. But the Rashford comments are the type of player-first approach we've suffered from for years.
26 Apr 2026 18:13:55
I get some of that, Don, but I see the Maguire extension as smart business. I wouldn't want him starting 38 games a season, but he's done well stepping in when needed. If you do a list of positions that are needed, centre back can probably wait till next year, and keeping Harry for a year is OK with me.
The Rashford spiel is just trying to get Barcelona to pony up the agreed price.
I don't think they'll buy him, but by comparison, Amorim told the world Garnacho would never play for him again, and that affected his price.
I'm not too hung up on the manager, to be honest. What will be will be. Carrick has improved us, and we'll get Champions League football back at Old Trafford next year. That's good enough to let him have a crack at it.
26 Apr 2026 20:40:24
Lucky we didn't miss the part where RA actually managed the team. We did see what he could and couldn't do. ?
He overachieved for some of the know-it-alls.
26 Apr 2026 20:52:45
That's unnecessary, Angel.
27 Apr 2026 07:23:15
But to be expected, DonRed.
27 Apr 2026 08:27:12
What was DonRed? I mean we have over a year worth of data to actually see how he performed.
Mr. Triggered below you again too I see.
27 Apr 2026 10:58:29
Have a read of this. You might learn something.
bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cgqen0lvywyo
27 Apr 2026 12:20:43
That's crystal clear, DonRed. We did improve under Ra, and stats back it up. I would be interested to see a similar grammar (?) about Carrick's time.