Manchester United’s Deja Vu? Michael Carrick’s revival sparks Champions League dream after disastrous season

After the end of the 24/25 season, the Manchester United owners reevaluated after a disappointing season. 

The club had finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest top-flight finish for 35 years, and finished 42 points behind winners Liverpool. 

They set out key points of what they wanted to achieve in the coming seasons.

In year one, they wanted the team to secure a return to European football, with a top six targeted for the 25/26 season.

In year two, returning to the Champions League, and seeing a top four finish as realistic by the end of the 26/27 season.

Between 2006 and 2011, Manchester United reached the final of the Champions League in three of the five seasons, but since then, they have only gotten past the round of 16 once. 

Deja vu?

Since caretaker manager Michael Carrick has come in, United have picked up 16 points from a possible 18 in the league, with the only blemish being a 1-1 draw with West Ham earlier this month. 

With sides around them dropping points weekly, it seems United look likely to get European football, but when Carrick came in, relegation was more talked about than a return to Europe's elite. 

But they find themselves in the same position now as they were in 2019. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been brought in midway through the 18/19 season to see the side through the Champions League knockout rounds. 

They would pull off what many saw as the impossible, knocking out PSG at the Parc des Princes, overturning a 2-0 deficit. 

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Solskjaer would be rewarded with a three-year deal after winning 14 of his first 19 matches in charge, but would only win two of his next 10 to end the season, which included them being dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona. 

After a successful interim period, Solskjaer was shown the exit after two and a half years. 

The same can be said about Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, who survived the summer, after many thought they should've been let go after the end of the season. 

What Carrick needs to do to get the permanent job

The obvious thing Michael Carrick needs to do to be in the role come the start of next season is to get Champions League football, but also get the team playing good football.

The advantage Manchester United has when it comes to those around them is that they don't have to contend with the knockout stages of European competitions, so they will be able to rest players and make sure that they're fresher for their league games.

Eyes will only be on their performances in the Premier League, rather than having something else to compare to, like how Solskjaer and Amorim both had European football to be judged off.

Something else that will please Manchester United fans and hierarchy will be the improvement in the form of Benjamin Sesko, with the Slovenian scoring six goals in Carrick's first seven games.

Under Ruben Amorim, the striker looked uninspired and low in confidence, perhaps with the £74 million price tag weighing him down. Now, under Carrick, he looks more like the player United signed from Leipzig in the summer.

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Not getting "carried away."

Throughout his stint as caretaker, Michael Carrick has reiterated that he can't allow his side to get complacent and isn't getting carried away despite his side's impressive form. 

With United's late winner away to Everton on Monday night, it puts them within three points of Aston Villa in third and three clear of Chelsea and Liverpool below them. 

Carrick himself knows that football's a results business, and if you win games, you likely are going to stay in a job, but that can always change very quickly.

When he was in charge of Middlesbrough in 2022, they looked certain for a return to the Premier League, with Carrick winning 15 of his first 20 league matches.

But would only win three of their next 12, which led them to being in a play-off semi-final against Coventry, which they ended up losing.

They wouldn't get closer to promotion again with Carrick in charge. 

Carrick knows the job at hand and what he needs to do, but will he give the United hierarchy a headache, and should they renew?