Carrick must drop Man Utd star who had fewer touches than Lammens v Arsenal

Manchester United fans must be jumping for joy now that Michael Carrick is back in the Old Trafford hot seat.

During his first short-lived, but successful, tenure back in 2021, Carrick guided the Red Devils to two wins and one draw, with the final victory being a 3-2 success over Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

Fast forward to the present, and there’s a serious case of deja vu gripping proceedings, with the revitalised away side travelling to the Emirates on Sunday afternoon to pick up another 3-2 victory, at the expense of a shellshocked Arteta and Co.

With a 2-0 win over arch rivals Manchester City also under his belt, Carrick is proving to be just what was needed in the dug-out after the toxic end to Ruben Amorim’s bumpy reign, with several United players standing out during the drama in North London.

Man Utd’s best performers vs Arsenal

While Sky Sports’ Gary Neville would label the defeat for the league leaders as a “sobering one”, credit does have to go to the visitors, who look revitalised under Carrick’s fresh set of ideas.

They would get the ball rolling when Bryan Mbeumo clinically put away an opportunity after a defensive mix-up from the Gunners, with the “calm” ex-Brentford forward – as former Arsenal great Patrick Vieira would label him post-match – also amassing two key passes throughout, when trying to play some of his lively teammates into dangerous areas.

Patrick Dorgu further stood out as a livewire in the attacking positions down the left channel, with the energetic number 13 winning six duels in total, before being taken off during the later stages of the frantic showdown.

He would also score a sensational strike early into the second half to hand Carrick’s men a slim 2-1 lead, with the reinvigorated Dane now having scored in successive Premier League games.

Matheus Cunha would secure all three points with a memorable effort of his own, but away from the goalscorers, the more seasoned individuals such as Harry Maguire and Casemiro also led by example, as seen in the dominant centre-back winning 100% of his duels, while Arsenal’s backline bizarrely looked error-prone.

Not every individual donning United’s changed strip of black and yellow was faultless, however.

Man Utd’s biggest underperformer vs Arsenal

On another night, the league leaders could well have come away with a victory to extend their lead at the top of their table, with Senne Lammens having to make three saves to deny the out-of-sorts Gunners.

But it was United’s classy finishing that proved to be the difference, alongside Arsenal’s lax defending, gifting Carrick’s men some great opportunities to seal a second successive win. Still, Amad Diallo failed to spark into life as one of the quieter components of the alert United attack.

As seen in the table above, Amad – who is usually a tricky customer for defences to try and handle – was rather ineffective throughout, with the Ivorian failing to test a shaky David Raya with a single shot on goal, from his meagre 35 touches of the ball.

Even Lammens in between the sticks managed to accumulate more touches at a heftier 48.

Moreover, the subdued number 16 failed to complete a single dribble, when he’s usually well-known for a mazey dart forward, and he also failed to complete a single accurate cross from two attempts.

He was far from brilliant against Pep Guardiola’s challengers, either, but he did at least hit the woodwork with one of his three efforts against the bewildered Citizens, with Carrick perhaps needing to see who else he can start down the right flank when his now top-four positioned side face off against Fulham to start February.

Manchester Evening News journalist Tyrone Marshall would hand out a low 6/10 rating to Amad; consequently, when the likes of Maguire and Mbeumo would bask in the glory of receiving high 9/10 and 8/10 appraisals, as he stated that the 23-year-old “kept at it” without really offering a whole lot.

The FA Cup-winning forward will back himself to return to his Red Devils best, having notched up three goals and two assists already this season, but Carrick’s patience is already being tested somewhat, just two games into his new interim stint.