Senne Lammens has suggested Manchester United players responded to a clearer, simpler approach under interim boss Michael Carrick after a difficult period under the previous manager.<\/p>\n
Ruben Amorim eventually oversaw United\u2019s worst season in 51 years in 2024\u201325 and a poor, albeit not quite that bad, start to this season left him under pressure. Amid growing speculation of tension behind the scenes as the January transfer window began, he was let go because United executives “had not seen enough signs of evolution or progress” under his guidance.<\/p>\n
Carrick’s return coincided with a run of seven wins, two draws and one defeat in 10 games that has pushed United into a strong position to qualify for the Champions League again for the first time since 2023. The job could be his on a permanent basis in a matter of months.<\/p>\n
Lammens pointed to the way Carrick set out basic principles from the start. “The first thing was [Carrick\u2019s] ability to make everything quite clear and [present] a direct message. He didn\u2019t make it too difficult for us,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes, managers make a plan [that is] too complicated, and then some players don\u2019t buy in and it\u2019s difficult to get on the same level for everyone. But from the first game, it was quite clear what [Carrick] wanted.<\/p>\n
“He was not asking the most difficult things, but also he was able to let our players thrive in their qualities. At the back, not giving goals away is one of the most important things, and then our players in front can make a difference. That\u2019s probably what has been working the best.” <\/p>\n
Carrick’s early matches included tactical shifts that favoured wingers and quick transitions, described as reflecting the United ‘DNA’ seen in his first games against Manchester City and Arsenal.<\/p>\n
Securing Champions League qualification would strengthen Carrick’s case for the permanent role and provide financial benefits for the club. United sit third on 55 points with seven league fixtures remaining: Leeds, Chelsea, Brentford, Liverpool, Sunderland, Nottingham Forest and Brighton. Aston Villa remain active in another competition, while Liverpool and Chelsea each have two other commitments. Six points separate United from Liverpool in fifth and five wins from United\u2019s last seven will guarantee at least fifth place, with the April 18 trip to Stamford Bridge billed as a pivotal match in the run-in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lammens: Carrick simplified tactics, restored United’s DNA and boosted their Champions League bid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,172],"tags":[1021,1530,1047],"class_list":["post-10343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-epl","tag-amorim","tag-caretaker-manager","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}