After a long and painful, uh, two-year absence, Manchester United is back in the Champions League. With the club's 3-2 victory over the rotten, no-good, no-fun Liverpool on Sunday, United has now clinched a top-five finish in the Premier League and the glory and continental adventures that come with it for next season. Given where the club was as recently as the new year, with a soon-to-be-fired manager and power struggles behind the scenes, this is the type of success that United will feel that it can build upon in its efforts to return to the true elite.
Like most Manchester United successes in recent memory, though, the 3-2 win felt tenuous at times and borderline disastrous at others. (The win itself also was mostly symbolic; while it is probably sweet as nectar to clinch a Champions League spot with a win over a hated and spiraling rival, there was very little risk of United not finishing in the top five.) Despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead by the 14th minute, courtesy of Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, and despite controlling most of the match's chances, United allowed Liverpool to equalize in quick succession after halftime. First, Dominik Szoboszlai scored an elegant solo counter-attack in the 47th minute, and then a horrendous gaffe from goalie Senne Lammens allowed Cody Gakpo to equalize in the 57th.
After that Gakpo pounce, as a Liverpool fan, I thought my beautifully stupid Pool Boys had the three points on lock in their own battle for a Champions League spot. United has, in recent years, had a knack for debilitating losses, and Liverpool was on the ascendancy. But this is looking like a genuinely new United, one that is much steadier under interim manager Michael Carrick, and so the hosts picked themselves up after Gakpo's goal and got back to work.
Though United ended the game with less possession than Liverpool, a statistic surely influenced greatly by how long it was in the lead, the 20 minutes after the Reds' equalizer saw the Red Devils grab the wheel once again, controlling the ball and looking to create, rather than trying to see out what would have been a useful, if also disappointing, draw. That type of aggression was rewarded in the 77th minute, when a poor clearance from Alexis Mac Allister saw the ball dribble to an onrushing Kobbie Mainoo, who one-touched a roller into the bottom corner for the eventual winner:
Just as important as Mainoo's goal was the way United saw off the ensuing pressure from Liverpool for the last 15 or so minutes. Despite Liverpool's frantic attempts to equalize, United actually looked the more likely to score the next goal, and the defense held under a relentless barrage of forward motion from the visitors. This is a well-drilled and well-structured side, and Carrick deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround he has overseen since succeeding Ruben Amorim in January, which brings me to the future of this once-proud club that's oh so close to a return to normalcy as defined by the Manchester United history.
Carrick has been a godsend for United. Since he took over ahead of the Manchester Derby in January—a game United won—Carrick has only presided over two losses (against Uniteds Newcastle and Leeds), and has racked up wins over Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham (OK, everyone beats Tottenham, but one only needs to look at last season to find a United side that was just about as directionless as Spurs are this year), Aston Villa, and now Liverpool. United being out of all cups by the time Carrick took over did help, as they could put all their focus on the Premier League, but that shouldn't undercut how impressive his caretaker tenure has been, and it appears he will be rewarded with a real shot to carry it forward: Reports on Monday indicate that Carrick will soon be offered the position on a permanent basis.
Is that a good thing? I think so, because what United needs most of all is someone who can be flexible enough to work with the hodgepodge of talent on the roster. Amorim was (in)famously stubborn in trying to make his 3-4-3 system work, even as it became increasingly clear that United's players didn't fit it, but Carrick has proven more adaptable. Carrick has been able to shepherd his charges into several different formations and playing styles, attaining success in different ways along the way. Thanks to that acumen, United has pulled off quite a few close wins, even when giving up equalizers. The Liverpool win marked the fourth of Carrick's tenure in which United had the lead, gave it up, then won anyway.
Also, his players seem to love him:
That's as good of an endorsement as any, and that it was Mainoo specifically saying that players "want to die for him on the pitch" is especially reassuring. The homegrown midfielder is one United's best and brightest talents, but was puzzlingly out of favor under Amorim, so much so that United appeared to be doing its best to try to force him out of the club entirely. The reign of Carrick has brought with it the return of the best of Mainoo, which, for fans of this club that has historically placed so much importance on building its foundation on academy products, has to taste almost as sweet as the top-five finish itself. With a record of 10 wins in 14 matches, and Champions League qualification locked up, and the support of the dressing room, it would be a colossal fuck-up on the part of the United brass if they didn't sign Carrick up for next season. In years past, I would have wagered, with some glee, on that happening, but Carrick has done such a great job that surely even the dumb-dumbs in the board room couldn't mess this up.
To build on the success of this season, especially in light of the much more grueling schedule in store for them with UCL play to contend with, United will certainly need additional reinforcements this summer. Sesko started this season poorly before picking it up under Carrick to reach 11 goals on the season to date, but the club can likely pick up some more attacking firepower to complement the Slovenian, or cover for him when he hits a goalscoring drought. The midfield group is stuck in a weird age dichotomy, as 21-year-old Mainoo and 23-year-old Amad Diallo are teaming up with 31-year-old Bruno Fernandes (who has been incredible, by the way; 19 assists and counting in the Premier League) and 34-year-old Casemiro, who had a bit of a revival season this time around but who has already announced that he's leaving in the summer. The backline could also use some bolstering, particularly at left back (Luke Shaw was pretty good against Liverpool there, though).
So, yeah, the squad needs help, and this summer will be the first time Carrick will have a say in the roster makeup, if he does in fact sign on full-time. Will the club get the transfers right? A positive answer to that could go a long way towards reestablishing Manchester United not just as a strong candidate for the Champions League places, but a real title contender. A negative one, though, would just bump United back where it has been for years now: A club capable enough and wealthy enough to hit some highs, but one that is hamstrung by bad decisions from sustaining that type of success. The pressure on Carrick to get United back to where it had been accustomed, historically, will be immense, but the work he has put in this season should have supporters ready for a return to something resembling glory days.
