Carrick will have to drop Manchester United star, who took fewer touches than Lamence vs Arsenal

Manchester United fans will no doubt be jumping for joy with Michael Carrick back in the Old Trafford hotseat.

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

If we go back to the present, there are serious incidents that give us a feeling of deja vu. A rejuvenated away side head to the Emirates on Sunday afternoon looking to pick up another 3-2 win at the expense of a shocked Arteta and co.

Several United players stood out amidst the drama in north London, with Carrick proving to be just the player needed in the dugout after ending Ruben Amorim’s ill-fated reign in the 2-0 win over arch-rivals Manchester City.

Manchester United vs Arsenal best performers

Sky Sports’ Gary Neville described the defeat for the league leaders as a “sober defeat”, but credit should be given to the visitors, who appeared to be reinvigorated under Carrick’s fresh ideas.

They would be set to get the ball rolling after some defensive confusion from the Gunners, with Brian Mbeumo clinically snuffing out chances. The “calm” former Brentford forward (as ex-Arsenal great Patrick Vieira described him after the match) also collected two important passes throughout as he attempted to force his lively team-mates into dangerous areas.

Patrick Dogue further distinguished himself as a live wire in the left-channel attack, and the energetic No. 13 won a total of six duels, but was sent off in the latter stages of a frenzied showdown.

The reinvigorated Dane also scored in back-to-back Premier League games with a sensational strike early in the second half to give Carrick’s side a narrow 2-1 lead.

Matheus Cunha would take all three points with a memorable goal of his own, but apart from the scorers, experienced players such as Harry Maguire and Casemiro also led by example, with the dominant centre-backs winning 100 per cent of their duels, while Arsenal’s backline looked strangely error-prone.

But not everyone wearing United’s modified black and yellow strips was perfect.

Manchester United’s biggest underperformance vs Arsenal

On another night, the league leaders could very well have won and extended their lead at the top of the table, as Sene Lamence had to make three saves to thwart an out-of-form Gunners side.

However, it was United’s classy finishing that made the difference, and along with Arsenal’s lax defending, gave Carrick’s side a great chance to seal a second successive win. Still, Amad Diallo failed to shine as one of the quiet building blocks of United’s alert attack.

As seen in the table above, Amad is a difficult player for defenders to deal with, but he was fairly ineffective throughout, taking just 35 touches and failing to test the erratic David Raya with a single shot on goal.

Even Lamen between the sticks was able to accumulate more touches with the heavier 48.

What’s more, the calm No. 16, usually well known as a labyrinthine forward, failed to complete a single dribble and failed to complete one of his two accurate cross attempts.

It wasn’t a great performance against Josep Guardiola’s side either, but he did at least convert one of his three shots against a bewildered Citizen side. Perhaps Carrick will need to identify another player who can start on the right flank when the team, currently in the top four, face Fulham in February.

Manchester Evening News journalist Tyrone Marshall would give Amado a low rating of 6/10. As a result, while players like Maguire and Mbeumo were basking in the glory of being rated 9/10 or 8/10, he said the 23-year-old “kept going” without actually offering much.

The FA Cup-winning forward has already scored three goals and provided two assists this season and will push himself to get back to his best at the Red Devils, but Carrick’s patience has already been somewhat tested just two games into his new caretaker role.