Farewell Casemiro, adios amigo

You don't wear this shirt, you carry it. 

Eight words to sum up the departing Casemiro perfectly. There have been many players to ply their trade on the hallowed turf of Old Trafford, and plenty to make their mark on its history. But perhaps none in recent times more than the affable Brazilian.

Cult hero status assured

There are icons, there are legends, and there are cult heroes. The first two categories take care of themselves and the names roll off the tongue. From the days of Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best, up through the eras to the silver-plated times of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney,  Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. 
The third category is a little harder to define - cult heroes don't always win Premier Leagues or Champions Leagues, or have statues built or stands named after them. They are the grafters, the charismatic mavericks, the men who represent us fans on the field with their love, dedication and commitment to their craft - and our club. 

The likes of Ji-Sung Park, Nani, Diego Forlan and John O'Shea all hold that status here. Yes, they did win titles too but were often overshadowed by their more illustrious and decorated team-mates. 

It has perhaps taken a while, but Casemiro will leave United as one of these cult heroes. 

It is easy to fall in love with a foreign export if you are someone like Ronaldo or Bruno Fernandes - you are the heartbeat, the string-pulling creator in chief, the flair player to get you off your seat. Exciting attacking fulcrums are what fans want - those players get all the glory and are often your match winners. 

But how often do defensive midfielders receive adulation to this extent - totemic titans Roy Keane and Bryan Robson aside, maybe? It is testament to Casemiro's impact, commitment and genuine affinity for United that he will leave the club almost universally adored. The feeling is very much mutual. 

"I will carry Manchester United with me throughout my entire life" - for a man from the Brazilian favelas who has been there and won it all at Real Madrid, that is quite the statement. It is enough to give this particular sentimental hack the hint of a tear in his eye. 

From outcast to indispensable

But yet it wasn't always this way. 

Casemiro was parachuted in to answer United's midfield SOS call after a 4-0 shellacking at Brentford - future Red Bryan Mbeumo and all - in 2022. He came as the supposed epitome of United's failing transfer strategy - a big name 'Galactico' the wrong side of 30 on massive wages into an alien, madcap, 100mph environment.  Another commercial pound grab by the board, another prima donna. 

But Casemiro has shown throughout his four years in Manchester he is up for the fight. He has recovered from setbacks - and slander - that would make lesser players melt. 
Jamie Carragher branded him a 'plodding steady Eddie' and to 'leave the football before the football leaves you'. He was dropped for the 2024 FA Cup final and was once hooked in lieu of Toby Collyer with United two down to Liverpool. Even in that sorry second season, he sacrificed himself, and selection for the cup final, by selflessly filling in as a makeshift centre-back in the midst of an injury crisis. 

That all seems a long time ago now. True, United's two lowest ever Premier League placings have come with Casemiro in midfield, but it is no co-incidence we have also finished third twice since he's been here. Erik ten Hag's 'cement between the stones' may not have delivered the major titles we all have craved but his Man of the Match showing, and goal to boot, in the EFL Cup final at Wembley certainly helped scratch that six-year itch.
ten Hag's basketball mantra of 'you attack, we attack' often left him marooned in midfield against three - sometimes four opponents - and then Ruben Amorim's ill-fitting tactical blueprint which left everyone, even the players, scratching their heads in bafflement.

The time is right, I'm moving on..

And so we have come to the end of the (United) road for this quiet, undemonstrative family man. Someone who does not speak much, but - when he does - everyone listens. 

It is the right decision to let him go. He is 34 years old, has completed 90 minutes only 14 times this season and qualification for the Champions League will bring about a 25% increase in player salaries. United were never going to countenance an ageing and rotational squad player on 350k a week. It is simply too expensive, too much of a risk with the constant shadow of PSR in the rearview mirror. 

But it is this very fact that has made his stock rise further. Despite announcing his departure in January, Casemiro's Reds career would have the most impressive of epitaphs. It would have been very easy for him to forgo a future he will not be part of by downing tools and, basically, not giving two hoots whether we made the Champions League or not. 

Not for this introverted leader and his resurgence deep in the heart of United's engine room. A best ever goalscoring season with nine, all of them headers, often in tandem with the omnipotent Bruno, spearheaded United's charge under soon-to-be-permament manager Michael Carrick. 

He has done his damndest to ensure the Reds will once more sit at Europe's top table, even with the shifting sands of time counting down to his Old Trafford epoch. And that's all credit to him. 

Casemiro had a knack for key goals. His 94th-minute equalier at Chelsea in that debut season. The Cup final winner and decisive header away to Forest in the FA Cup fifth-rounder the following year. The pivotal role in that astonishing climb-off-the-canvas comeback against Lyon. But his legacy is these last few months, driving United on to the land of milk and honey even when he knew he won't be here next season. He has given every last bit of energy and effort, every last drop of sweat and blood, to get this club back to where it should be. And for that I will always be grateful. 

Adios amigo, it has been a pleasure. Duh duh duh duh, Casemiro, Duh duh duh duh... 

From calm to chaos in Scouse-busting double act

Manchester United and Michael Carrick once again put us through the wringer on Sunday.

We should all know that by now: there is no such thing as a relaxing afternoon watching the team for 90+ minutes, either in the ground or on TV. Once again, United made life very hard for themselves and almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. 

This was another high wire act, another 90 minutes in which United walked the metaphorical tightrope but again emerged victorious. I'm not sure I can take many more of these. After Monday's nervy win over Brentford, United's latest act of derring do took us on a rollercoaster, white-knuckle 95 minute ride back to the promised land. A return to the Champions League after two years away in typical harum scarum style. Can we make it a tad more comfortable next time? This club is going to be the death of me one of these days. Supporting it should come with a health warning. I wouldn't have it any other way, though. 

Record setting, record losing...

United look on course for a record win over Liverpool as we hit the front inside six minutes then moved 2-0 ahead after 16. Memories of THAT game at Anfield under Erik ten Hag came flooding back: maybe now, finally, United would eviscerate that with a 7-0 scoreline of our own.

Fat chance of that.

Instead, from that position of supreme comfort, United threw our most hated rivals a lifeline. A lifeline of two goals in ten second half minutes through Dominik Szoboszlai and one-time Reds target Cody Gakpo after errors from Amad and the usually unflappable Senne Lammens.

Suddenly, where there was joy, satisfaction and a sense that this was to be our day, came a feeling of helplessness. Hopelessness. Depleted Liverpool taking charge and threatening not only the mathematical certainty of Champions League football, but also THAT record. The one that has stood the test of time since 1984.

That year was the last time United had been beaten at Old Trafford in a league game when leading at half-time. Stretching to nearly 400 games across three decades, it is one everyone knows but one that fills you with dread every time it flashes up on screen. Surely one of, if not THE, most remarkable stats in football.

The highs and lows of football 

Bournemouth nearly broke it back in December, only a late Lammens save preserving parity in that particular see-sawing thriller.
But imagine losing it here. Not when you’re 2-0 up after 20 minutes. Not against Liverpool, our most despised adversary, from the position we were in. Surely it could not happen. We’d never hear the end of it. Another stick for them lot to lord it over us with, can you imagine?

One of the oldest and proudest chapters in the Manchester United story teetered on the very precipice of extinction. United had collapsed and fallen in on ourselves in front of our eyes. Slumped in a state of stunned silence, I was unable to quite believe what I was watching – at that stage, even the relative sanctuary of a point looked a long way off. I was convinced the record was going, right here and now, at the hands of that lot from Merseyside.

Oh ye of little faith..I really should know how this film ends by now, shouldn’t I?

Kobbie Dazzler

Then came the denouement, the thrilling final chapter in this topsy turvy tale. Sprinkled with vivacity and a touch of Carrick’s kindred spirit, United roused themselves once more. Luke Shaw had a fine game down the left and, from his cross, Liverpool failed to clear. If there was one man on the field that ball was just meant to drop to, it was Kobbie Mainoo.

The individual epitome of United’s collective resurgence since the turn of the year, Mainoo could quite easily be plying his trade elsewhere now. Had we stuck with Ruben Amorim, that seems almost a certainty. That we almost lost this fine, generational talent from our midst is a football crime of the highest order. Amorim's decision to overlook a player of Mainoo's calibre is one that looks more and more stupid by the week.

The outcast has become indispensable. 

Even in these early stages of his embryonic career, Mainoo has a CV most others can only dream of. A goal and a man of the match showing in an FA Cup final. A Euros final for England against Spain. THAT goal against Lyon. It is quite the resume.

But this goal, this winner, probably tops the lot. At the Stretford End, against Liverpool, to get United back into the land of milk and honey as one of our own. To complete a league double over them, in a week when he signed a new contract at Old Trafford. As the only Carrington graduate on the field. I doubt Mainoo has ever had a better few days than this. Whilst any win against them p***s is always sweet (I’d want us to beat them a tiddlywinks), for this to be delivered by a lad from the Academy makes it all the sweeter. Throw in the fact this was our first league double over the Scousers in a decade, and you have just about perfection. 

Up the Reds! 

Michael Carrick: The case for the prosecution

We are now coming towards the end of Michael Carrick's time on trial at Manchester United.

For that is what these last four months have been. Ever since January, Carrick has faced the jury as he presents his case to be the next Manchester United manager. 
It will soon be time to study the evidence and then that jury will make their decision. A decision which will set the course of the next few years and take United into a new era. 

Imagine this interim period like a court case. We have heard from the defence. They have given their reasons as to why he should stay on. Carrick himself has shown what he can do. Now it is the turn of the prosecution to take to the witness box. They will put forward their case as to why Carrick should not get the job despite his body of work at United. 

Here, we take a look at the counter-argument: why Carrick should not take charge beyond this season. 

The style

Carrick's United welcomed Brentford to Old Trafford on Monday night. The first twelve minutes were probably the best we have seen from the Reds since his first game in charge against City. United forced four corners in the opening moments, Sepp van den Berg cleared off the line and the Reds had Brentford pinned back and unable to get out.
But after Casemiro's eleventh minute goal, this was a familiar pattern. The Bees took control and - were it not for the heroics of Senne Lammens - should have been 2 or 3-1 ahead a half-time. United's shape and structure subsided and we were forced to hold on for the win. 
Carrick, to his credit, rectified the issue by making a tactical switch to a back five with Nouss Mazraoui as a third centre-back. He wanted to solidify it, and it worked in disrupting the flow of the game and stopping Brentford cutting through us. 
It worked, but - once more - United did just enough for victory. Just as we did against the ten men of Crystal Palace, just as we clung on at Everton and at Chelsea. True, just enough will be enough. It will get us to where we need to get to. But surely no further that that. 

Will the manner of the performances come into the thinking of Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and co? Or will they just look at the results? Think of the acronym 'PVR' - Performance. Vision. Result. Whilst the third is the most important, especially at this time of the season, Carrick has to show the other two as well. In my view, he has not yet demonstrated anything to show how he would have us playing in the long term. We have to have something to buy into. 

This level of performance is not sustainable - if this is what a Carrick-led United future looks like, I don't want it. It is basic, predictable and quite boring. It's too nervy, too edgy, too white knuckle ride. Winning when not playing well is a fine trait to have but catches up with you eventually. 
We are not going to get anywhere in keep-it-simple survival mode. Four months in, and there is no discernible pattern of play. Of course, it is possible Carrick is just doing the bare minimum to get the results we need. It might simply be a means to an end. A 'just do what it takes to get what you need' situation. But we cannot play like this in the Champions League next season. 

Carrick's (lack of) experience 

Now we come to that age old paradox. The fresh out of college student needing a job to gain experience, but the employer wanting you to have three years worth of experience before considering you for said job. It is similar for Carrick. He is learning on the job, a young manager with no Premier League experience save for his brief experience as a caretaker the first time round in 2021. 
United is no place for a learner driver. You only have to look at Chelsea to see how quickly these mighty behemoths can swallow up even the most promising of managerial talents - Liam Rosenior falling by the wayside 109 days into a six-year tenure. Rosenior is clearly a good coach but never stood a chance amids the chaos in west London. 
Carrick is under no pressure at the moment. The job was a free hit when he came in and there was no pressure or expectation. That will not be the case in 2026/27. Carrick will be thrust into a transfer window, he will be set long-term targets and will be expected to compete with some of the biggest clubs on the continent. Everything he says and does will be forensically analysed x 10. 

For a guy whose only previous managerial job was at Middlesbrough in the Championship, the step up will be enormous and daunting. 

Player regression 

It has been United's veteran old stagers - thirty somethings Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire - whom have shone brightest under Carrick. Players who have been here before, and know what's needed at this level. These three players have been influential, leading United's charge towards the promised land of the Champions League. All three are experienced, quality leaders and they have done more than most to get us to this position. That is not to discard the efforts of others, but certainly that triumvirate have been big players at big moments. 
With the exception of the excellent Senne Lammens, United's newest recruits have either regressed, or plateaud, under Carrick. 

Bryan Mbeumo came in over the summer to much acclaim - United had acquired one of the best players, and finishers, in the Premier League. He has had a good season and there is no doubting his ability but he has not scored for nine games, since the 2-0 defeat of Spurs in February. Mbeumo has gone off the boil and looks a shadow of the player we saw over Christmas and ino the early months of 2026.
Amad's struggles continued as he was withdrawn at the interval against Brentford having endured another poor 45 minutes. He snatched at a gilt-edged opening set up by Kobbie Mainoo - which would have been goal of the season - and seemed to run into traffic at every turn. He did, however, play a role in Benjamin Sesko's match clinching goal when he started the move on the edge of our own penalty area. Amad was one of the only United players who emerged from last term with credit, with 11 goals and ten assists to his name. This term, he has two and three respectively.
Matheus Cunha may have scored the winner at Chelsea but he is another whose influence on this side has gradually waned. A player always capable of moments such as that goal at the Bridge, he has become wasteful, looks slower and at times seems unsure of his role. 

The managerial market

There are a number of in-demand managers on the market in the summer. Luis Enrique's future at PSG is still up in the air, Andoni Iraola is highly sought after, and Xabi Alonso is also available. So too Xavi and Oliver Glasner. Unai Emery may leave Villa should they win the Europa League. Can Julian Nagelsmann be tempted away from Germany after the World Cup? Iraola seems odds-on to go to his former side in the Basque country, Athletic Club, but his predecessor there, Ernesto Valverde, has been linked with United in the past. Valverde has managed at the highest level and Omar Berrada is a known admirer. Could they opt for someone like him instead? 

United run the risk of appointing Carrick and missing out on the managerial merry go round as other clubs swoop for these out-of-work bosses. 

But this time, unlike in previous years, there is no obvious no.1 candidate. Enrique would be the choice of many fans but even if he leaves PSG, his wage demands would be mad. United would be in a very long secure to secure the services of the Spaniard. Which path will INEOS decide to walk down, if they haven't already picked their man? If they do truly want the 'best in class' then you move heaven and earth to get Enrique. 

Michael Carrick: The case for the defence

When Michael Carrick came in to guide HMS Manchester United into calmer waters he had one job. 

It's a job that is now almost done. Mission nearly complete. United will be back in the Champions League next season - a quite extraordinary turnaround for a team that finished 15th last season. Sixth when Ruben Amorim was sacked five days into 2026 after letting rip in his post-Leeds interview, the promised land of Europe's elite seemed merely a pipedream. Three months on, and the Reds are odds on for a third placed finish in the Premier League. 

Mission accomplished for Manchester United 

Make no mistake: Carrick has done a fantastic job in interim charge, picking up 29 points from a possible 39. Draws at West Ham and Bournemouth and defeats to Newcastle and Leeds are the only blots on his copybook. Otherwise it has been wins all the way: Carrick has kept it simple, utilised his side's strengths and has been rewarded by a group of players who have more belief, clarity and confidence in themselves. The players like him, the players respect him and he has everyone pulling in the same direction. Us fans have enjoyed the ride, too. 

United's powers-that-be will soon have a big decision to make when it comes to the man in the Old Trafford dugout. Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, watching from on high on Monday, will no doubt be pleased their mid-season decision looks to have paid off.

Mathematically, United need two points from Liverpool, Sunderland, Forest and Brighton to make certain. In reality, we are there and it could be sealed without kicking a ball if the Seagulls fail to beat Newcastle on Saturday. 

Better the devil you know? 

Carrick will be difficult to ignore when it comes to that decision: so much so, that getting rid of him is seen as a riskier option.

On the other hand, if we stick with him and it goes wrong next season, INEOS and co, will be derided for following the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer model. That said, the affable Norwegian remains the only post-Ferguson United manager to secure successive top three finishes. 

What if Carrick is replaced by a more experienced manager who can't adapt to the rigours of one of the biggest jobs in world football? Then you're accused of trying to fix something that was never broken.

Based purely on the results he's overseen since he took charge in January, Carrick has to be firmly at the forefront. Expected to finish in the bottom half of the table, initial big game wins over City and Arsenal came with a caveat: this was a film we had seen before. Even under Amorim, our record in games like those were good - a case of United elevating their level and going toe-to-toe with our traditional rivals, raising our game for the big occasion. 

But this has been more than merely new manager bounce: Carrick has nine wins in 13 games to climb to third place in the Premier League: had he come in earlier we'd be challenging for the title.

Carrick has done all he possibly can to get the permanent position. Now, is it up to Berrada and co. 

The decision is not made easier by the knowledge PSG are confident the standout candidate in the market, Luis Enrique, will sign a new deal. Even if he doesn't, he will be very expensive. Julian Nagelsmann's contract does not expire until 2028 and Andoni Iraola is admired. Much like Thomas Frank, who has been linked with United in the past, managing a small, progressive Premier League side is a world away to dealing with one of the biggest. 

No one knew what results Carrick would deliver when he was asked to take over until the end of the season. However, one thing the Reds powerbrokers were certain about was he wouldn't be swamped by the sheer size and scale of the Man Utd behemoth - having already played for us and his four games as caretaker in 2021. 

Results not in question...but concerns remain

Whilst you cannot argue with Carrick's record since he took over, there are legitimate concerns too. 

The style of play hasn't been good, with United having to grind out a string of ugly, single goal wins. We didn't play well against Everton and Chelsea or at times against Brentford. United laboured against Crystal Palace before Maxime Lacroix's red card. Fulham were only seen off in the 92nd minute. Leeds played us off the park, United only improved upon the injustice of a red card, Alex Scott ran through the midfield for Bournemouth in March. The football is fragmented, still sometimes frantic but at times piecemeal. But, on the other side of the coin, it is common sense, streetwise and is working. The ship is still watertight although holes are beginning to appear. 

Of course, results are the most important currency at this stage of the season. In the immediate, no one will really care how the destination is reached. But, long term at least, there has to be substance too. United are still too easily bypassed in midfield, don't control games well and give up too many chances. United won't get away with that at Champions League level. 
That is something Carrick, or whoever it is in charge, will need to work on going forward. 

It comes down to personnel. Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo are very good on the ball and at getting United moving. But off the ball, they are too slow and don't press aggressively. Carrick has acknowledged his squad's strengths - box defending, counter-attacking and set pieces - and utilised that effectively. That is good management: maximising what your team are good at and setting up to suit, whilst at the same time understanding its limits. The wingers do not tuck in and full-backs do not push on. United are still too narrow and don't progress the ball through areas that well. 

It's common knowledge United's midfield is in need of an overhaul so with that, we hope, will come evolution to a new style. 

For me personally: I think we thank Carrick for his time in charge, agree an amicable parting of ways in the summer and do all we can to get Enrique. Carrick is not the man for us: he has no experience, his style of play is basic and he's never managed in the Champions League before. We don't want another Liam Rosenior. Old Trafford is no place for a learner driver. 

A huge summer awaits for Manchester United with big calls to make over both player and manager recruitment. 

The PGMOL are corrupt and poisonous weasels (ANGRY RANT!)

I have had enough of this corrupt, rancid organisation at the top of the game in England. It's time to unite and get rid of the PGMOL for bringing our game, our beautiful game, into disrepute.

I am done with these putrid, lying, corrupt, poisonous, parasitic weasels who all paid for and pre-planned this months ago. It is now abundantly clear: the PGMOL, the FA and the Premier League do not want little old Manchester United anywhere near the Champions League. It might be for money, to appease fans, or because it's not what they sat down and agreed months ago, or because we had the nerve to question them. But whatever the reason, they are going to keep f*****g us over until we finish sixth. Then they will all get together and w**k each other off. 

They may as well come out and tell the world as it's very very obvious it's what they're foaming at the mouth for. 

I don't want to keep talking about referees but we can't just stay silent, we have to topple this dictatorship and start anew. We have to take action and unite to end this criminality. 

They are shitting themselves at the thought of us playing in it next year so have been told to make up any old bollocks to get what they're presumably very well rewarded for. No other team gets treated like this - it is disgusting, it is an absolute disgrace, a bloody disgrace and needs to be called out. All fans of football should join together to banish these w*****s from the game. Get in a new pool of referees from abroad without bias, without collusion and who actually know their arses from their elbows.

You only have to look at the state of things in our last two games. We had the non-award of a blatant penalty on Amad at Bournemouth  (voted 5-0 in favour of a correct decision as well btw) - which led directly to the Cherries first equaliser. A decision every other team in the Premier League would get in their favour. But it's Man Utd and they have a different set of laws to screw us over. It's been common knowledge for years. 

Then came two red cards I have never seen any other player get sent off for - Harry Maguire for a supposed DOGSO when there was no contact and Lisandro Martinez for jumping for a header. To add insult to injury, Magure has been given an extra game ban for something no one heard him say whilst little pet Rodri called the referee a cheat and nothing was done. 

They waited as long as possible to ban Maguire to make sure we go into a massive match underprepared and in limbo. Exactly as arranged, exactly as they wanted. 

Only those clubs who say and do everything the PGMOL want are allowed into the upper echelons of the game at home and in Europe. 

United are set to appeal the latter, and it's worth a try, but you just know it will be upheld because all the cutesy, pally little PGMOL minions can't possibly accept their buddy pals are ever wrong. Yet DCL can smash Martinez around the face and get away with it. 
They will probably slap an extra game on for having the audacity to challenge them. 

Do nothing to give these p****s the satisfaction they get from making our lives a misery. No media, no referee handshakes, no mementoes, no 'Respect' campaign. Ban them from Old Trafford and threaten legal action, even to withdraw from the league if this carries on, Fuck the Premier League, fuck the FA, fuck the PGMOL fuck all of them. I never want you anywhere near our club again. All corrupt, all pre-planned, all fixed, all bollocks. Howard Webb, get to f**k. 

Make no mistake, United weren't good enough against Leeds. I don't think anyone can deny that. But the fact of the matter is, we had yet another major game-changing decision go against us. If that's what's classed as violent conduct now, football is finished. Completely finished. 

I'm sick of 115 being able to say and do whatever they want without punishment. I'm sick of Liverpool existing, I'm sick of all the backhanders, all the mates rates, the rules changing every week to suit their agendas. I'm sick of the protection of their own, of clubs not being able to call them out for fear of the poor little mites being upset by the hurty words. I'm sick of their cosy little favourites getting everything they want. I'm sick of the lack of accountability. I'm sick of them blaming everyone else for their incompetence. I'm sick of how untouchable and arrogant these p***s are.  I'm sick of 'Tayls' and 'Kavs' and 'Ols' and 'Suts'. I genuinely believe all these PGMOL officials were secretly hired by Manchester City to bring down United. I'm sick of our players getting singled out, victimised and made an example of in the name of greed, money and match fixing. 

What minute has it been planned for that poisonous weasel Michael Oliver to send off Casemiro on Saturday? You can bet he's foaming at the mouth to get his slimy mitts on a few brown envelopes from his paymasters in the Middle East.

At Bournemouth it was Stuart Attwell, against Leeds it was Paul Tierney. It'll be that Oliver this week and some other fraud next time. 

What better way to stuff this corruption down their throats than by rising above it and proving the old adage is as true as ever - cheats never prosper. 

Surely Manchester United can't do the impossible? Can they?...

Manchester United have improbably become the best side in the Premier League under the erudite tutelage of Michael Carrick.
United were in very real danger of missing out on not only Champions League football but European competition altogether for the second straight year as Ruben Amorim's reign of terror lurched from one catastrophe to another.
Not only has Carrick dragged us right back into the mix, we are currently the form side in England and have overtaken an Aston Villa side that sat eleven points clear of us five weeks ago.
United occupy the dizzy heights of third place for the first time in nearly two years. Not only that, but we remain an interested party in the scrap for honours at the very top of the table. Eight points behind second placed City and thirteen off pacesetters Arsenal (with a game in hand)... let's just say stranger things have happened. 

United remain a very outside bet for the unlikeliest of Indian summers, but the rarefied air of the league's summit is certainly a lot closer than it has been for years. Messrs Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola might be starting to squirm uncomfortably at the sight of Carrick's rampaging Reds juggernaut careering into their rearview mirrors. 

Manchester United have won the Premier League from similar positions before, most notably in 1996.  Of course it remains unlikely and we would need a (very) improbable sequence of results to fall into place for it to happen. But the fact we're in the conversation at all and there's even a 1% chance of Premier League glory says it all. The fact I even have the tiniest, wildest sliver of belief we could yet pull this off speaks volumes as to Carrick's ever-growing body of work at Old Trafford. 

We would probably need to go the rest of this campaign unbeaten, winning every game, whilst hoping the lot from across town and down in north London do a Devon Loch (go look it up, you young'uns). But you never know what can happen in this crazy game we call football and why shouldn't we be allowed to dream, however fantastical it might seem?

If United win each of their last ten games, that would give us 81 points, which is only a few points shy of winning a title in most seasons (and the same as Leicester's total the year they won it). That tally would be our joint-highest since 2013 (Mourinho finished second with 81 in 2017-18). The maximum Arsenal can get is 91 (assuming they too, win all nine fixtures). City can finish on 89 with a 100% record. The Gunners only need to lose two and draw three, and City draw four and lose three, for United to finish top of the pile

Let's apply the following results (assuming United win all ten games):
- Brighton 1-1 Arsenal; City 3-0 Forest
- Arsenal 2-0 Everton, West Ham 1-1 City
-  City 2-3 Palace

- Arsenal 1-0 AFC Bournemouth, Chelsea 2-0 City
- City 0-0 Arsenal
- Arsenal 1-1 Newcastle, Burnley 1-2 City
- Arsenal 2-1 Fulham, Everton 0-1 City
- City 0-1 Brentford, West Ham 2-0 Arsenal
- AFC Bournemouth 2-2 City, Arsenal 1-0 Burnley
- Palace 1-0 Arsenal, City 1-1 Villa 

That would make the final standings: 1. United (81), 2. Arsenal (79) and 3. City (72). Easy peasy, right? 

So whilst it seems likely we have left our red surge a little too late, I haven't given up until it's a mathematical impossibility. I grew up on a diet of this club redefining logic and rewriting history so 

all the time we're in the picture, Arsenal and City will be glancing nervously over their shoulders. Call me deluded if you wish but it doesn't cost anything to let your imagination run a little wild.. 

                                     

Football fans are fickle creatures: European qualification (ideally the Champions League) was the definitive aim before the season started. We are on the verge of just that and third would be a fantastic achievement but you always want more and a strong string of results can see fans get carried away. 

All this begs the question: where would we be if Carrick replace Amorim even a month earlier? It is surely the biggest 'what if' in United's recent history: had Amorim been sacked after Bilbao, or even in the wake of that rain-soaked nadir at Grimsby in September, what would have happened? Of course we will never know the answer now but how, with the benefit of hindsight, I wish INEOS had acted sooner.

Six wins and a draw from his seven games in charge means it's seven and two overall for Carrick if you consider his first stint in charge. Following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's dismissal in 2021, Carrick drew with Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea and overcame Arteta's Arsenal. 

That equals the joint-best return from nine games as a manager from anyone in the history of the Premier League. 

United and Carrick just need to keep this going and aim for the stars. As proud New Zealander Marton Csokas once said in his role of Charles Kingsleigh: "Gentlemen, the only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it's possible." 

He's Carrick, you knoww....

If this is Michael Carrick’s job interview for the permanent United gig in the summer then there is a tick in every box so far.

Carrick, United’s dapper head coach with the Midas touch,  has got pretty much everything right to date. In winning a third successive game, he did in three matches what Ruben Amorim took 36 to manage.

At full-time after another nail-biting, harum scarum victory, Carrick was serenaded with his popular terrace chant: “He’s Carrick, you knowwwww, hard to believe he’s not Scholes.” Paul Scholes and Carrick formed the formidable fulcrum of United’s engine room for over a decade, with their fire-and-ice partnership driving the Reds to every major honour there is to win.

United manager Michael Carrick

Calming Carrick rolls back the years 

The two men’s contrasting styles dovetailed perfectly. Scholes was all action, often arriving in the box at just the right moment to smash in a scorcher before getting United moving again with a rapier-like pass or lung-busting run. Carrick, on the other hand, was the calming spoiler. Sitting in front of the back four, breaking up play and cutting out opposition attacks at source, subtly keeping United ticking and quietly dictating the tempo. Scholes was far more heralded and celebrated, yet Carrick arguably more influential.

If Scholes' fire and brimstone was the irresistible force, Carrick’s ice cool unflappability was the immovable object. It is this calm and unassuming temperament that has proved so invaluable in the early weeks of Carrick’s second coming. He doesn’t command an audience or court controversy. Not for him the emotional outburst or soporific soundbite. He is composed, sensible and measured but knows exactly what to say and when to say it. For those of us who remember Carrick’s safe hands on the tiller in his playing days, it is no surprise to see that taken from the pitch into the dugout.

Simplicity is everything

His quiet United renaissance has been nothing complicated. Rather like when he was at the peak of his considerable string-pulling powers in midfield, Carrick has kept things simple. But yet that is precisely what this squad needed after the confusion and chaos of the Amorim era.

The players never got to grips with what Amorim was trying to do -  or it never looked like it anyway. By simply giving the players jobs they all understand, in their proper, natural positions, Carrick’s United look a team transformed. Kobbie Mainoo, whose ease on the ball and ability to cruise through games makes Amorim’s treatment of him look more baffling by the week, has been restored. So too has the back four of which the refusal to utilise proved a significant part of Amorim’s self-inflicted fate. Quite what the Portuguese coach makes of United’s sudden revival now he’s gone, I guess we will never know.

As the late, great Bill Shankly once said: “Football is a simple game made complicated by people who should know better.”

There is no magic formula, no tactical revolution, no blinding the players with science. He has brought clarity, simplicity and belief to a squad in need of direction. Maybe simply because he’s not Amorim, the players are buying into it and it’s working. This side’s togetherness, spirit and renewed belief in each other has been inspiring and uplifting – although the last two games haven’t been so kind on the ol’ ticker…
Carrick has gone back to basics but has taken risks too: bringing Benjamin Sesko on for Patrick Dorgu at Arsenal with United holding a slender lead. He could have introduced Mason Mount or Nouss Mazraoui but opted to bring on a striker. Whatever the Manchester United ‘DNA’ is (if, indeed it even exists), embracing risk and going for broke is part of it. 

Belief and hope spring eternal

Even by replacing Matheus Cunha with eventual matchwinner Sesko, Carrick’s simple switch was something his predecessor never would have done.

Carrick had to get all this right in the first instance and deserves huge credit for the job he has done so far. Of course, we all want the Manchester United manager to do well but surely Carrick’s emotional bond with us fans is helping him to succeed? Amorim never truly won over large sections of the fanbase and had no credit in the bank. 

Carrick has that connection after 18 trophies, 464 games and his first stint in the dugout (in which he beat Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta and drew with Thomas Tuchel). In those tense final moments against Fulham as Carrick orchestrated from the touchline, the backing was loud and unequivocal. He has struck a harmonious chord with fans and players and, to continue the musical analogy, now everyone is singing from the same hymnsheet. 

Carrick has brought United right back into contention for a place in the Champions League, and even as an outside bet for the league title. That scenario remains highly improbable and unlikely, but we were 12 points behind Newcastle at this stage in 1996. Stranger things have happened. Dare I start to dream? 

He’s Carrick, you knowwww, hard to believe he’s not Scholes!