A Shock Treatment That Wasn’t Just Shocking — But Also Very Successful
Manchester United totally dominated their rowdy neighbors, with an interim boss in place. “There is a baseline (of quality) below which this club cannot sink,” says Carrick.
Manchester City were given a grim reminder of the painful derbies they suffered from last season, while United, who changed coaches, may have sent a message that this season is far from being thrown away — although it would be pure fantasy to think they could be part of a Premier League title chase at this stage.
It certainly worked as shock treatment. Michael Carrick arrived at the best possible time — victories over City have been extremely rare over the last ten years, so this one deserves a big celebration. However, every person at Old Trafford knows very well: the issues at the club and outside the club have not gone away and won’t be resolved within 90 minutes.
There are many internal and external club issues and obvious shortfalls in the current squad, however Carrick and his coaching staff managed to hide all the negatives and totally outsmarted Pep Guardiola. The final 2:0 score at the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday didn’t do justice to how dominant the Red Devils were against a side that is theoretically still a major contender for the title.
In just a handful of days, what did Carrick achieve?
“We had some great training sessions before the derby, primarily with the ball. Huge credit to the coach and his assistant coaches for the preparation — I am very happy,” said Lisandro Martínez, one of the standout performers during the game.
Of course Carrick doesn’t have a magic wand, but he is a most welcome injection of new life into Old Trafford, after Rúben Amorim, who increasingly appeared to be more comfortable conducting interviews than actually coaching. He is also far from the first United manager who has been consumed by the excessive pressure that surrounds the club.
Michael Carrick’s – skysports.com
“Fantastic start — but should we celebrate now?”
Carrick then gave a very insightful and honest comment:
“Derby matches never require additional motivation — the game provides all the necessary motivation. However, not every game will have the same feeling as this one — and we need to ensure that this energy and intensity is felt each and every week.”
Continuity is precisely what Manchester United have lacked for years.
“There is a baseline (of quality) below which this club cannot sink. Whatever the player does, they have to be able to perform at a high standard regardless of the result. Yes, we just beat a very strong opponent — and at the moment, everything appears to be rosy on the surface — but of course, it isn’t. I wouldn’t be sitting here now if everything was as it should be,” Carrick said bluntly.
The former West Ham, Tottenham and Manchester United midfielder has held a season ticket at Old Trafford for a long time.
“I’ve watched loads of games live when I wasn’t on the bench — sometimes family members took my seat. I saw many things. It became clear what the real problems were once I was actually sitting on the bench… but the actual hard work is only just starting now. One match cannot change everything, but we can absolutely develop a very serious platform for building on this performance,” added Carrick.
Interestingly enough, his team had just 32% possession against City — yet still successfully stifled and neutralized them.
