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Sometimes, the best decision is the one you choose not to make, and that’s exactly what Michael Carrick did with his defence against Chelsea.
Coming into the game against Chelsea, Michael Carrick faced the unenviable scenario of having his four centre-backs missing.
Ayden Heaven was the only “senior” centre-back available, and “senior” being in double quotes shows how liberally that term is used for him.
Ultimately, Heaven and Noussair Mazraoui gelled together to earn Senne Lammens a precious clean sheet, but that defence almost didn’t play.
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
How good was Ayden Heaven against Chelsea?! What a performance!
Getty Images Michael Carrick saved himself from an error
With four centre-backs missing, Carrick didn’t have many options for his defensive line, but he could have still been more experimental.
Manuel Ugarte, Luke Shaw, and Casemiro could have played at centre-back, but he ultimately went with Mazraoui partnering Heaven.
Carrick has puzzlingly found a way not to play Heaven so far, and as it turns out, that might well have been the case against Chelsea as well.
As per The Athletic, work was being done with Shaw to get him ready to play centre-back against Chelsea.
Considering Shaw and Heaven are both left-footed, it’s likely that Shaw would have replaced the youngster and played alongside Mazraoui in defence.
Carrick could have even gone with Casemiro and Shaw as his CBs, leaving Mazraoui to play LB.
Ultimately, he decided that it was one position change too many for a team that was already struggling with multiple absences.
The straightforward choice to select Heaven was finally made, and he repaid that trust with a brilliant performance in the 1-0 win.
Carrick avoided deviating from his strength
Carrick’s tactical nous hasn’t received deserved credit, and part of that nous is also about not complicating simple things.
WHO was your MAN OF THE MATCH against Chelsea?
A massive performance and victory…
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
He could have moved multiple pieces out of position to look like a tactical genius, which could have backfired, but he resisted that temptation.
With that many absences, one place should always have been Heaven’s, with the other any right-footed player most suited to that role.
That is ultimately what happened, and it gave results, once again showing that Carrick identifies the simple solution to a difficult problem and backs his players to execute it.
The Chelsea win will do wonders for his belief in his own ability to navigate crises like these.
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