Man Utd and Carrick show succeeding Amorim to be simplest job in football

So after all that, it turns out that managing Manchester United is actually a piece of piss.

Okay, that may be a conclusion too flippant to make the 16 in the wake of the Red Devils’ impressive win at Arsenal on Sunday. But there is certainly a strong argument for Ruben Amorim being one the easiest-ever managers to follow in the Premier League era.

With each passing game under Michael Carrick’s control, the folly of Amorim’s religious devotion to a system that suited almost no-one at Old Trafford becomes more stark.

Carrick came in after Darren Fletcher acted as first responder and in just two games, United might not be ‘back’, but they certainly look a sight closer to what a United team ought to.

What’s Carrick’s magic formula? Play players in positions and a formation that suit their individual and collective talents.

It really is that simple. Sure, Carrick and his coaching staff will have found other ways to lift a woefully-underperforming squad – taking ketchup off the contraband list, that sort of thing – but to make the biggest difference, all they really had to do was get out of the players’ way.

That is not to diminish Carrick’s achievements so far. Going unbeaten against City and Arsenal would have been a very creditable return. To spark United to be the first team in a decade and a half to win back-to-back games against the top two is quite remarkable.

But, more than anything, it highlights just how much Amorim’s stubbornness was holding United back.

From being a team whose shortcomings in the middle third set them up to fail at either end, the Red Devils suddenly appear defensively solid and threatening going forward. It was all so bleedin’ obvious.

Amorim is hardly the first and only coach to make it all about himself. Fans and the wider public now insist upon a philosophy, a recognisable style – usually recognisable because almost every other team is trying to play the same way – and identifiable patterns of play. More than anything, Amorim sought to make United the embodiment of his principles, at the cost of, y’know, winning football matches.

Carrick was hired to keep it simple. That’s all United needed in the Amorim aftermath.

In a system more familiar to every single one of them, the players look free. Liberated from Amorim and their own minds, no longer second-guessing each instinct while making 3-5-2-1 appear a quadratic equation.

Any team will always be the sum of its parts and the improved performances of individuals is just as damning on Amorim as the collective revival.

The most obvious: Kobbie Mainoo .

Amorim deemed the England international – it wasn’t that long ago –  incapable of playing in the base of his midfield because… reasons. Mainoo might not have always helped his own cause but the fact him and United came as close as they did to giving up on each other highlights the misplaced priorities during Amorim’s reign.

We know Mainoo is technically good enough for the role. His ability to cover the ground was questioned but in two starts under Carrick, he ran further (11.89km against City and 11.26km at Arsenal) than any other player on either pitch.

Mainoo’s presence means Bruno Fernandes can play higher. Putting the skipper, one of Europe’s most creative players, on a leash held by three centre-backs ought to have been a sackable offence in itself. That Fernandes made the best of it reflects far better on him than the departed manager.

Giving Mainoo and Fernandes the platform each need to thrive were such easy and obvious wins, Carrick probably could have been forgiven for thinking it was a trap.

Any manager needs luck and Carrick has benefited from the timing of his appointment. Mainoo was just out off the treatment table when he walked into the dressing room and doubtless the change of manager helped speed the healing process. Fernandes too was just back from injury, as was Lisandro Martinez.

Paul Scholes might not fancy the World Cup winner much but it is clear to anyone without an agenda that United, in and out of possession, are a much better with Martinez as part of a duo – not a trio – at the heart of their defence.

If Carrick’s luck holds, and United keep their key players fit through the remainder of his interim rein, on the evidence of his first two games, he could back the board into the kind of corner they haven’t easily wriggled out of in the past.

United will be egged on to keep Carrick more with each win , the danger of doing so only matched by refusing to even consider the possibility that he could be a leading candidate come the end of the season.

The prematurity of that debate makes it tiresome already, but February will offer a clearer picture of what United and Carrick might be capable of. In contrast to opening with the top two, four of their next five games are against bottom-half sides , the type of opponent that tripped up United almost as often as they stumbled over themselves under Amorim.