Unai Emery Praises Manchester United Interim Coach Michael Carrick

Michael Carrick (Twitter @ManUtd)

JAKARTA - Michael Carrick made his debut as interim manager of Manchester United in the match against Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday morning.

United won 2-0 thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho. With this result, Ronaldo et al topped the standings as well as qualifying for the next round with 10 points or three points above Villarreal who finished second.

"I stayed positive in the first 70 minutes against Manchester, who are the favorites of this group," Emery told AS after the game, describing the game.

Our no.25's performance caught the eye of the Reds' caretaker boss 👏

💫 @Sanchooo10#MUFC | #UCL

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 23, 2021

"We didn't give it a chance. The changes (which Carrick did) gave them added value and in that phase, we were no longer the same. They have accelerated with that change and we lost control."

Yes, the score was still 0-0 when Carrick made a double substitution. He pulled out Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek and replaced them with Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes.

Rashford worked hand in hand with Ronaldo upfront, while Fernandes helped United adopt a more attacking approach.

It was Carrick's boldest change, and he succeeded as United ended up destroying Villarreal.

This was an opportunity for Carrick to show what he could do. Identical to a string of failures during his time as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's deputy, Carrick showed that he could be himself.

He is not afraid to leave Fernandes on, a decision Solskjaer has avoided in every Premier League and Champions League game this season. And he makes the team work more efficiently defensively.