Premier League: Carrick’s United surge grows as Arsenal depth fuels title push

Manchester United’s sudden surge under interim coach Michael Carrick has started to feel very real. Saturday’s composed 2-0 win over Tottenham made it four victories in a row, a run that has quietly shifted the mood around Old Trafford and brought belief back into their push for a top-four finish.

But the foundations of this revival were laid last weekend, when Carrick gathered his players before the Fulham match and told them it would be a true test of everything they had trained for during the week.

United had been fired up for the big nights against Manchester City and Arsenal, where counter-attacking space suited their strongest players. Fulham, Carrick warned, would be a different kind of challenge. The Cottagers would sit deep, crowd the penalty area and make it almost impossible to play through midfield or find room for the forwards.

Carrick’s solution was to work tirelessly on set-pieces, which would allow the ball to penetrate the packed defence. A perfectly placed ball from Bruno Fernandes from the free kick found Casemiro on the back post and United went one up. United eventually edged past Fulham 3-2, showing they could win even when the game demanded patience rather than chaos.

What Carrick has succeeded in putting together is the perfect trio of Casemiro, Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo, something Ruben Amorim never dreamed of doing. Casemiro tackles strongly as he has done all his career and can dominate in the air around the penalty area. Fernandes creates passes and sprays them into all the right places and Mainoo connects all three, giving extra presence in midfield.

Kobbie part of the new spirit at United

With the arrival of Michael Carrick as interim coach of Manchester United, the position of whether or not midfielder Kobbie Mainoo leaves has completely changed.

There has been considerable discussion between the United contracts team and CAA Steller, who represent Kobbie, with a view to renegotiating his contract and offering enhanced terms.

However, at the request of some influential insiders at the club, including former striker Louis Saha, the talks are likely to be put on hold in order to allow the player himself to concentrate on rebuilding his career and reputation after the reign of Ruben Amorim, who told Kobbie he should find another club.

Kobbie is still only 20 years old and won’t turn 21 until April, and his calm nature and dribbling prowess are very much appreciated by Carrick, who has admired him since his United academy days.

United’s players have been very impressed with Carrick’s training sessions, which he actively joins in. When the squad underwent passing training, Michael made two passes which Harry Maguire describes as the two best out of 300 made during the session.

19-year-old Ayden Heaven also praised Carrick’s assistant trainers, highlighting the help Jonny Evans has given him. He said:

“It’s really good, Jonny especially, he’s been helping me a lot. Me and Leny Yoro, after some of the sessions have ended, we go to do extras and just work on the basics. Even between drills, during our sessions, Jonny and Jonathan (Woodgate) are always pulling us aside and helping me on my positioning. I’ve enjoyed it a lot. They are a big help.”

With wins now over Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham, Carrick has a squad who have totally, to a man, embraced the interim coach, his tactics and methods, and are moving forward with the kind of spirit that could secure their big four place at the top of the table.

Depth of squad key to Arsenal’s title push

Even Mikel Arteta has privately said that he believes the Gunners can lift the title this season. Usually he refuses to speculate on their chances until the very last matches in April. The main reason for his confidence stems from the depth of their playing squad. Arsenal’s squad has been dramatically improved by sporting director Andrea Berta.

The injury to Bukayo Saka during the warm-up against Leeds would usually have been a problem for Arteta, but Noni Madueke replaced him and showed that training had kept every player at their peak for just such an emergency.

He supplied passes which enabled Arsenal to take a 2-0 lead and eventually leave Elland Road as 4-0 winners.

Arteta said. “So in the warm-up Bukayo had a little niggle, he wasn’t comfortable to start the game, so I immediately made a decision to make that change and bring Noni in.

“It is incredible the options we have, but that’s only possible if those players are with the right mindset We talked before the match in the dressing room that it was going to be a long game. We were going to have to navigate through difficult moments, and we needed everybody fulfilling the role they had on the day and I think the players executed that incredibly well,” he added.

Villa’s title challenge unlikely as Emery predicted

A defeat at home to Brentford on Sunday has probably ended Aston Villa’s title challenge. It is just as manager Unai Emery has been saying for months, much to the upset of supporters:

“We are not title contenders this season.”

Villa also have Champions League top four rivals closing in and ready to push them down the table.

Emery had succeeded in bringing back to the club Douglas Luiz and Leon Bailey together with Tammy Abraham, but I understand that the deal to buy Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, if he plays three games during his loan period, is to be changed.

The midfielder would cost Villa £35 million but they want to avoid this to give Elliott more game time without being forced to purchase him.

Glasner hits out at Palace recruitment

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has been venting his anger and frustration at what he says is “a step backwards” for the club.

During the January transfer window, Palace sold Marc Guehi to Manchester City and Eberechi Eze had already left for Arsenal in the summer.

Glasner said that has made a world of difference to his squad as they continued their run of nine matches without a win dating back to early December.

Although he is leaving in the summer, Glasner wants to progress quickly with what is virtually a new squad.

He said, “With two, maybe three more players returning from injuries and five or six new players, it is like starting the season all over again.

It feels like two years ago, teaching them how we want to play and attack. You can see many misunderstandings on the pitch and this is taking a step backwards.”

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