Carrick is essentially the anti-Amorim

Let’s be real: Manchester United has been a circus for as long as most of us can remember. Ruben Amorim’s tenure wasn't just a failure, it was a tactical crater that nearly swallowed the club whole. But suddenly, the vibe at Carrington is different. Bruno Fernandes has been vocal about the shift, confirming the biggest change since Michael Carrick took over the steering wheel. It turns out that when you stop overcomplicating things and actually let players breathe, they stop looking like they’ve never seen a ball before.

Carrick isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, which is exactly why he’s succeeding. While the suits upstairs sweat over the long-term head coach decision, Carrick insists he handles the pressure without losing his marbles. Even David De Gea, who knows the toxicity of that locker room better than anyone, is out there calling the current setup unbelievable. When the guy who had to face 15 shots a game for a decade gives you a thumbs up, you listen.

The transfer market is still a absolute minefield

While Carrick keeps the ship from sinking, the recruitment department remains arguably the most incompetent group of people in professional sports. Take the Nico Schlotterbeck situation. United spent weeks eyeing the Borussia Dortmund defender, likely preparing a bid to fix their defensive leakiness. Then, poof, he signs a new deal with a tweaked release clause. Classic United: waiting until the price hike is baked into the contract before getting serious.

We have the exact same disaster brewing with Sporting Lisbon’s Morten Hjulmand. The guy has an Arsenal tattoo on his arm — yes, really — and now Manchester City is closing in on him. Why are we even in the room for that one? It’s not just poor scouting; it’s a lack of basic situational awareness. You’ve got Elliott Anderson swap deals floating through the rumor mill like debris in a hurricane while the medical staff is scrambling to patch up Gabriel Gudmundsson and Anton Stach ahead of the Leeds game. It’s a total mess.

Is the legacy baggage weighing them down?

Maybe the issue is that Manchester United is addicted to its own ghosts. You see Ian Rush and Sir Alex Ferguson having a laugh at the Aintree Festival, and it’s a nice moment, but it’s a symptom of a club that’s looked backward for far too long. Ferguson even admitted he tried to sign Rush back in the day. It’s a fun anecdote, but it highlights the reality that United has been chasing the dragon of 1999 for over twenty years now.

They are currently scrambling for depth across the squad, and if they enter the 2026/27 season without a coherent identity, no amount of interim managerial magic will save them. They need to stop reacting to every shiny object in the transfer market and actually build something sustainable. If they don't, they'll just keep cycling through temporary fixes like Carrick until the next inevitable collapse. It’s expensive, it’s frustrating, and honestly, we’re all addicted to watching how they’ll screw it up next.