Carrick surprised Leeds by showing shades of Amorim in Man Utd’s draw, Calvert-Lewin noticed it

Man Utd still seem unable to shake off the ghost of Ruben Amorim, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin noticed it against Leeds.

This fixture at Elland Road is basically a chapter in the history of Man Utd, as it was after this game last season that Ruben Amorim imploded.

Michael Carrick repeated that result, but he’s unlikely to get sacked. However, the similarities don’t end there between Amorim and Carrick.

Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin noticed how Amorim’s prints were all over this draw.

Michael Carrick shows shades of Ruben Amorim

For a Man Utd manager, getting compared to Ruben Amorim is not the best of things because the Portuguese is statistically one of the worst managers in the club’s PL history.

However, nothing is black and white, and it’s clear that he did do some things well. There’s no harm in learning from that.

Calvert-Lewin noticed after Leeds’ draw against United that Carrick did exactly that by bringing back Amorim’s idea of football to Elland Road.

The striker said that United tried to match Leeds’ formation, playing with a back-three and pushing the wing-backs high and wide.

This allowed them to counter numerical superiority over every area of the pitch, even if it did leave them short of attacking quality.

He said: “They tried to [match us formation-wise]. Not really surprised, given what happened last season. It took us a little bit to adjust, but it was mainly down to us and maybe a lack of quality in the final third.”

The striker’s point is correct, as United did manage to dictate proceedings early in the game, easily nullifying the hopes of a fast start from the home team.

However, once they got a handle on what Carrick was trying to do, they ended the game as the team more likely to score, so that’s something Carrick needs to fix.

In the meantime, it’s okay to borrow from Amorim for this result, because in the grand scheme of things, a point away at Leeds isn’t a bad result.

If they manage to build on this and start winning some games, then Carrick can be lauded as a tactical genius, as he just did what Amorim never did, which is be flexible with his game plan.