'Give us variety' - Michael Carrick names three players who have helped transform his Manchester United

Michael Carrick has praised his forward players for bringing 'variety' to the Manchester United attack during his first four matches in charge of the club.

United have scored 10 goals in their first four matches under the new head coach, with two 3-2 victories and two 2-0 wins. Those goals have been shared among six different players, all but one of whom has played as a recognised forward under Carrick. Bryan Mbeumo has three goals, Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu each have two, while Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Casemiro have also found the back of the net.

The forward players all appear to be rejuvenated by the recent formation change, with a focus on movement and mobility, with every attacker able to switch positions on the fly. It means United have played with a greater freedom than was often seen under Ruben Amorim, something Carrick puts down to the personnel at his disposal.

Carrick praises three attackers

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to face West Ham, Michael Carrick praised his forward players for adding so much 'variety' to their attacking play. Asked if he set-up his side with permission to do what they wanted in the forward line, he said: "Yes, within reason, as long as we carry out the roles properly.

"It's not total free-for-all where you can kind of go and decide, it's a little bit of where you end up. Bruno's that type where he understands the different roles and plays them particularly well again, and Bryan's done very similar. To be honest, Matheus as well, playing sometimes through the middle, sometimes off the left, so it does give us the variety. I think the more of natural being wide, so that's a little bit more predictable if you like. The flexibility certainly helps us as long as we look after the positions when we don't have the ball."

Another key difference under Carrick has been the defensive resilience at the other end of the pitch. United have only kept four clean sheets across the entire season, two of which have come during his first four matches in charge. "It's pleasing for sure, I think it's a lot, it's not easy, but it's a lot... it's easier to win games without having to score so many goals every week, for sure," he added.

"We do seem to be a team that can cause a lot of problems and create opportunities and score goals, so it's definitely getting the balance right. There's still things to improve on, it's definitely something we've focused on, trying to be better as a team collectively when we don't have the ball, but in three or four weeks we're going to fix, you're not going to fix everything and all of a sudden look perfect. So it's understanding that a little bit, but yeah, I think the boys have responded really well to what we've asked them and the clean sheet, as much as everything today, the clean sheet was important for us."

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