What Carrick did at half-time vs Brentford could convince INEOS to appoint him as Man United manager

Manchester United claimed all three points against Brentford in the Premier League clash yesterday.

United tightened their grip on third place after moving to 61 points and are now just one victory away from sealing qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

The Red Devils flew out of the blocks and had already won three corners within the opening four minutes.

Harry Maguire came close to opening the scoring before Casemiro nodded home his ninth goal of the season in the 11th minute.

Brentford responded strongly and pinned United back, with Igor Thiago squandering enough chances to score a first-half hat-trick.

Benjamin Sesko showed remarkable composure and confidence to smash home at the cusp of half-time.

The Red Devils went into the break 2-0, but concern was visible on head coach Michael Carrick’s face.

Smart management from Carrick

When the players emerged from the tunnel, Amad Diallo was nowhere to be seen as Noussair Mazraoui prepared to come on.

Diallo endured a frustrating first 45 minutes, missing three golden opportunities.

He may have deserved to be taken off, but it came as a surprise when Carrick decided to hook him for Mazraoui.

The 28-year-old slotted into the right centre-back role as United switched to a back-three system.

Diogo Dalot moved to right wing-back, where his main task was to man-mark Keane Lewis-Potter.

The 25-year-old is naturally a left-back but often operates more like a winger.

He caused United several problems in the first half. Brentford repeatedly exploited the space between Dalot and Maguire, with Lewis-Potter pushing high up the pitch.

Carrick and his coaching staff spotted this glaring weakness early and, instead of waiting until the 60th minute, the former United midfielder acted decisively.

While some may view it as a defensive substitution, it was actually a sign of intelligent game management.

Brentford are quality opposition and could easily have mounted a comeback had United allowed the game to continue in such an end-to-end fashion.

Carrick deserves huge praise for making such a bold call.

He showed INEOS that he does not simply rely on star players to change games, but also has the tactical awareness to influence matches from the dugout.

With nine wins in 13 games, there is little doubt that he is making a compelling case for the permanent job at Old Trafford.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com

Article written by Sanidhya Bhardwaj .