The first thing to do is to maintain the habit of winning. Since being appointed in January 2026 to replace Ruben Amorim, Michael Carrick has won 10/15 matches, helping Man United climb to 3rd place from 7th, an almost impossible thing in the current very unpredictable Premier League context.
Not only playing well at home, Man United also knows how to win away from home. They have defeated strong opponents such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Brentford and Chelsea. However, unbeaten matches came in matches against lower-rated teams such as West Ham, Leeds, Newcastle and Sunderland.
In the Premier League, winning as many matches as possible is Carrick's mission. This season, he has won a Champions League spot and Man United must aim to become a regular guest of this arena. Only then will financial resources be supplemented abundantly every year, and the club will be more solid in terms of financial and personnel.
Speaking of the Champions League, the next thing Carrick needs to do is to calculate suitable contracts so that next season the team can play well in two important arenas. In the recent transfer season, the appearance of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens showed efficiency beyond expectations. They are good players, contributing to the overall success of the team at this time.
In addition to the midfield that needs to be upgraded, Carrick should also consider a player who rotates with Sesko in the highest position in attack. Besides, he also needs to consider a substitute with temporarily stable quality to prevent Lammens from not being able to play.
Man United will certainly have an additional budget this summer, but Carrick and the leadership team need to use it wisely like the summer of 2025. If putting all the money into the Elliot Anderson deal to compete with Man City is a disadvantage. Man United are on the path to return but cannot return to their golden age to be able to "blow the blockbuster" true to the team's level. Therefore, wise buying and selling at this time is no less important than winning on the field.
Buying new players is one thing, but whether to welcome back loaned players or liquidate them is also something to consider carefully. Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Jadon Sancho (Aston Villa), Rasmus Hojlund (Napoli) and Andre Onana (Trabzonspor) are all players of the first team who are being loaned.
There is one quite beneficial thing for Man United at this time, which is that 3/4 of these cases are playing well, Rashford, Hojlund and Onana. In recent years, when liquidating players, the "Red Devils" have always been at a disadvantage because the stars played too badly at Old Trafford and left at a cheap price. This time, if the borrowing partners are really sincere, Man United can sell at a much better price than when the star just left the team.
In fact, some cases like Rashford may return if Carrick is confident of reviving the English star's form. The left wing of Man United with Cunha, Rashford and to some extent Dorgu is expected to be very competitive and of high class.
Man United's tactics under Carrick are considered suitable for the current personnel but do not have high versatility. Moreover, this tactic is currently only considered suitable for the Premier League, and it is not yet known what the Champions League will be like? Therefore, Carrick needs to have more homework and be trained after the 2026 World Cup closes.
When he was coaching Middlesbrough, Carrick once said he liked the way he controlled the ball. The former "Red Devils" legend also shared that he does not care too much about statistics, just need to "have the feeling" that the team is controlling the ball well.
Next season, it is not yet known how far Man United will go in cup competitions, but the number of matches the team will play is about 50 - 60 matches. When he was a player at Man United, Carrick was too familiar with this. Or like when he was an assistant to Ole Solskjaer, he also had the opportunity to catch up. However, he has never experienced that feeling as head coach.
When Man United plays aggressively, the impact from the media will be greater, players' fitness will wear down faster, those are negative impacts. Therefore, right now, Carrick needs to have a plan very soon if he doesn't want to collapse.
The last thing is managing the dressing room. Currently, Carrick is very loved by the players and this will be difficult to change because his personality always knows how to be harmonious. There is only a little worry when new stars arrive this summer who are they, how much cooperation is there and whether they are "talking a lot" or not?
