Manchester United owes derby victory to regression, not revival

Reports of United's victory have been rapturous. The Guardian called it a dream start; the BBC called it perfect. In many ways, it was both. But what it wasn't — in any way, shape or form — was a step forward. 

On the contrary, it was a telling step back. Carrick's United didn't evolve into a better version of itself. It reverted into the best version of itself it could remember: a decidedly dated 4-2-3-1 led by its longest-tenured players.

A familiar — and wasteful — defensive line

Few clubs have spent more money on defenders in recent seasons than United. The club has shelled out a whopping 112 million Euros on everyone from Matthijs de Ligt to Leny Yoro to Ayden Heaven since Erik Ten Hag's reign began in 2022. That's a staggering sum, especially for a club forced into economic austerity by the Premier League's Financial Fair Play rules. United has laid off staff members, raised ticket prices and shrunk the club's cafeteria in an effort to save money, but it's dropped unthinkable figures on defenders all the same. The hope, presumably, is that those defenders will generate the results United needs to rocket itself back up the Premier League table (and back into moneymaking competitions like the UEFA Champions League.)

If Carrick's United proved anything with this derby victory, it was that United's hope was misplaced. Not a single one of those new defenders started this match, and only one — young Heaven — made an appearance at any point. Carrick relied instead on a core group of starters that have been in Manchester for eons: Luke Shaw (joined 2014), Diogo Dalot (joined 2018), Harry Maguire (joined 2019) and Lisandro Martinez (joined 2022.)

Watching United keep its third clean sheet of the season was heartening; watching it do so while 112 million Euros worth of new defenders languished on the bench certainly wasn't. Relying on the likes of Shaw and Maguire in 2026 isn't exactly a forward-thinking strategy. If anything, it's a clear admission that United's plans for defensive rebirth have well and truly failed.

A lucky break

There's a reason why United signed so many defenders instead of sticking with Shaw, Dalot, Maguire and Martinez: they were easily found out by well-trained opponents. United was incredibly lucky that City wasn't able to exploit that.

You can blame it on injuries (most of City's starting defenders are unavailable), tactics (Guardiola played just one true midfielder, Rodri, at kickoff), a new-look front line (striker Antoine Semenyo made his Premier League debut) or just a bad day at the office, but City was off its game against United. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was the only City standout in a game that featured world-class athletes like Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden.

That, truly, was the story of this derby. A new-look City failed to gel and an old-look United took advantage of that. The result is good for United in isolation, but its means of pulling it off are not. If Carrick wants to bring his club back into the upper echelon of the Premier League, he's going to have to try something new. Regression will only get him so far.

United will return to Premier League action on Sunday, Jan. 25 against Arsenal.