Carrick has United purring again, ditching the absurdities of the Amorim era did the trick vs City

The Michael Carrick era began in the perfect way possible, as Manchester United completely played their noisy neighbours, Manchester City, off the park at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Red Devils won 2-0, but the home side could have easily scored five or six on the day, such was the number of chances they created.

The hosts hit the post twice, saw three goals ruled out for marginal offsides, while Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled off quite a few stunning stops.

Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu got on the scoresheet as the interim head coach put out an attacking lineup, while getting his tactics spot on.

United dominated City

The way the team pressed when the visitors tried to play out from the back was exemplary while the midfield and backline remained as compact as ever.

And every time they squandered possession in United’s half, the 20-time English league champions jumped and looked dangerous during every transition.

The previous boss, Ruben Amorim, tried too many fancy tweaks, but keeping things simple, and playing players in their best positions worked wonders.

Giving Bruno Fernandes a free role behind the striker has always seen the Portuguese produce his best football, and that was certainly the case on Saturday.

Perfect gameplan from Carrick

Kobbie Mainoo, restored to the starting lineup, proved invaluable with the ball, while Casemiro worked his socks off at the base of the midfield.

And the four-man backline were flawless, with Harry Maguire leading from the back. The intensity shown by the players was almost a throwback to the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era.

This squad is built for fast transition football, and United produced just that at the Theatre of Dreams.

Carrick will be hoping for more of the same next week, when United travel to North London to take on Arsenal.

Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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