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Michael Carrick made a tactical change during the half-time break of Manchester United’s win over Brentford.
So far in his interim spell, Michael Carrick’s style of play has revolved around a 4-2-3-1 formation which has revitalised Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes.
But in the 2-1 win over Brentford on Monday night, Michael Carrick showed his tactical versatility by making changes to his formation to grind out three points.
Noussair Mazraoui came on in place of Amad Diallo, meaning United dropped back into a five-at-the-back formation.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
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Getty Images Why Michael Carrick changed Man Utd formation vs Brentford
Ironically, Carrick dropped into 3-5-2 formation similar to the one used by Ruben Amorim during his time as United head coach.
In the post-match press conference, Carrick explained his decision and pinpointed the exact moment he knew he wanted to change.
“Five minutes before half-time, five, six minutes before half-time, before the second goal,” Carrick said.
“We just felt we were a little too open at times. We still could be dangerous, but we wanted to stop certain spaces and have more control in the game.
“It was purely tactical. Second half, we came out and had control, but still went forward and looked dangerous. It’s what the game needed at that time.
“In the end, it’s gone to plan and we’ve won the game.”
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Getty Images Michael Carrick’s tactical switch worked vs Brentford
On paper, it is easy to point to United winning the first half and losing the second half vs Brentford, but extra context is required.
In the first half, United were leaking chances to Brentford and only some sensational Senne Lammens saves kept the clean sheet intact.
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In the second half, after Carrick’s changes, United did have much more control of the match and were more defensively resilient.
Brentford were limited to chances from range, and eventually a wonder goal from Mathias Jensen ended United’s clean sheet, but Carrick’s tactical switch still had the impact he wanted.
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