Gary Neville is “blown away” by Manchester United’s transformation under the management of Michael Carrick.
United backed up a derby win over Manchester City with a 3-2 success at Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday in Carrick’s second game in charge.
Those results have transformed the mood following Ruben Amorim’s sacking and Neville is confident United – who are up to fourth in the table – will finish in the Champions League qualifying spots.
“I’m absolutely blown away by what I’ve seen in eight days, because you can’t believe how low and how bad it was a few weeks ago in terms of some of the performances that we’ve seen,” the Sky Sports pundit said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“There are a number of things that have changed, the intensity, the compactness, the aggression of the defending, their willingness to get behind the ball together and be difficult to beat and dig in when you’re in difficult moments of the game. And there was more of that [at Arsenal] than there was against City.
“I thought they played better football against City, but they were always going to have to dig in [at the Emirates Stadium] more. In that first 25 minutes when they didn’t have a lot of ball, they didn’t really lose too many chances.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Arsenal’s match against Manchester United in the Premier League
“They controlled the game without the ball. And then they just started to play a little bit.
“But the big thing for me is that they’ve got a threat up front. They’ve got a group of players who are talented up front, who are also getting back and helping their defenders, who are digging in.”
‘The magic has returned’
Neville believes United’s system shift away from Amorim’s back-three preference to a 4-2-3-1 has boosted the team. He says Carrick has restored the “magic” to the team – and they are able to realise their potential to achieve a high finish in the Premier League.
“He’s definitely instilled a simplicity to it in the last two weeks, in the last two games, that I like about it,” said Neville.
“It’s my favourite system. We’ve talked about it a lot, the idea of a talented player playing off a striker, two wide players narrowing in midfield, a back four that’s really aggressive. It’s been a huge turn.
“It’s still not a point to get carried away but certainly a point to suggest now that Manchester United have got an unbelievable opportunity, from where they were before the Manchester City game, where it was a real low point. It’s a remarkable turnaround.
“And Michael Carrick deserves enormous credit, so do the players for what they’ve done. They’ve responded to whatever’s being said to them, and we don’t know what’s being said to them in that training ground, but they are responding like they weren’t before.
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Michael Carrick said he was very proud of his players after they had to dig deep to get their dramatic 3-2 win against league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates
“Why? We’ll always speculate, Ruben Amorim could be watching at home thinking, ‘what the hell am I watching from these players right now?’ I’m sure he’s bemused, as we all are in terms of the flip, but the magic has returned in the last week.
“The magic seems to have returned to the club momentarily, the feeling of how to play with the aggression, with the risk, with the great goals, with the attacking of speed, the counter-attack. It feels right.
“And I think one thing that this last week has told us, no matter where it leads to, is that is the way Manchester United have to play, because it’s just felt right watching them.
“Now that might not lead to Champions League football this season, it might be that they go and get beat by Fulham next week. Who knows what’s going to happen? I don’t think they will by the way, I think they’ll finish in the Champions League [qualification places] now.
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Roy Keane admitted Manchester United have ‘momentum’ under Carrick but believes he is not the right person for the permanent role
“But that’s why a number of players that commentate on Manchester United have been so angry in this last five or six weeks, because of the likes of Everton, Wolves, West Ham, Bournemouth, Burnley and Leeds, six teams that have been really struggling apart from Leeds maybe, and only five points were picked up in those games again out of the 18.
“And in a lot of those games where Manchester United had opportunities to go into the top four. We’re like, ‘go on’, and they didn’t, and now they’ve done it because I genuinely believe there is a feeling that they are better than what they’ve shown.
“And they’ve proved it in these last two games, they have really proved that they can get compact, they can stay together, be aggressive in their shape, can spring out of that shape and play good football and counter-attack and hurt teams, and they can score great goals and get bodies in the box.
“It’s been thrilling to watch these last two matches, it really has, and it’s a remarkable turnaround.”
