By Michael Harrison
Old Trafford 24/10/2025
Having qualified for the Champions League for the first time in three years – finishing third in the premier league with 71 points – Michael Carrick has done a tremendous job with the tools handed to him after the departure of Ruben Amorim in January, but how has the season gone for the red devils in a whole?
United started the season with a promising performance against Arsenal at home, but unfortunately fell short in a 1-0 loss, which set the tempo for the first quarter of the season under Amorim. Proceeding with a lacklustre 1-1 draw at Fulham and a shocking early exit from the Carabao Cup to Grimsby Town, Manchester United fans were seemingly in for an extremely long season.
A devastating 3-0 loss to local rivals Manchester City finally dampened the promising feelings shown in pre pre-season. With summer signings Matheus Cunha, Byan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko yet to find their feet at Old Trafford, United were struggling not only with their performances, but there seemed to be no identity in the team.
That was until the Red Devils travelled to bitter rivals Liverpool and snatched three points through a devastating Harry Maguire header. The team’s short term fortunes seemed to be turning. With nine points from nine after the Brighton and Sunderland games, Cunha and Mbeumo were finally finding their feet. Under Amorim, consistency had seemed to be United’s biggest issue, and so it continued,
After a run of six games without a win, Amorim departed the club after Matheus Cunha claimed a goal during a dismal 1-1 draw with Leeds. Darren Fletcher took the hot seat for a pair of equally inconsistency and poor performances, with an exit from the FA Cup at home to Brighton, and a 2-2 draw with Burnley away.
Michael Carrick was then appointed on a contract until the end of the season, and his miraculous management saw life, fight and a genuine desire to play for the badge in his team again. A stunning 2-0 victory over Manchester City at home, a 3-2 victory at the Emirates thanks to screamers from the reformed Patrick Dorgu and firing Matheus Cunha, and a 3-2 victory over Fulham from a dying minute Sesko winner kicked the Carrick era off in style.
20 points from a possible 24 was a monumental achievement given the situation Carrick had inherited. In the space of just six weeks, he had turned Benjamin Sesko into a clinical forward, grabbing four goals in five appearances, solidified the defence into conceding 0.59 goals per game less than Amorim, and had seemingly got the dreamers dreaming again. Despite the football not being pretty, Carrick had got the points flooding in, beating Liverpool at home in the process, the first time United had done the double over their bitter rivals since 2015-16.
With all that being said, what are the three major talking points at the end of the campaign?
Manchester United VS Newcastle from the stands
1. Michael Carrick’s unexpected success.
Ruben Amorim led the dressing room at the start of the season after a difficult time for him in his previous eight months, but inconsistency and a clash with director of football Jason Wilcox resulted in his departure from the football club in January. The job looked like a monumental task: to revive the dressing room, claim points from an extremely challenging upcoming run of fixtures, and most of all, get the fans believing in the team again, Many were skeptical if Carrick was the man for the job.
Having arrived with the club sitting in seventh place, a point above Chelsea during matchweek 21, Carrick’s success has been close to faultless. Dan Coombs – writer for United in Focus and Head of Global Sport Content, said: “I can barely fault him at all. I would grade it at 9.5/10.” After the victories against Arsenal away and Manchester City at home, Carrick looked to have proved himself competent to the task.
Coombs added: “Michael Carrick has won more games than Ruben Amorim did this season from fewer matches, and he has just simplified everything. We have beaten City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea, who were merely level on points with United, and now they are sitting in tenth place, which speaks for itself.”
While Carrick may have come under scrutiny regarding his style of football, Coombs said, “he (Michael Carrick) has beaten the biggest and best teams in the league this year, simplified the football and got the players believing in his vision. After picking up a divided dressing room, he has excelled in his short time as Manchester United boss.”
Vatsal Gupta – a sportswriter for United in Focus – said: “Considering the circumstances he came in, I’d give it a solid 4.5/5. It’s easily forgotten that he was asked to pick up a squad that had been eliminated from the FA Cup, lost a manager they liked, even if he was a failure, and finished 15th last season. To get UCL football without any new additions, pre-season, and tackling injuries is an immense job.” Manchester United have finally announced Carrick’s two year contract, the club can turn their focus to strengthening the squad in the summer transfer market.
Manchester United 4-2 Brighton (H) 25/10/2025
2. Bruno Fernandes’ record breaking season
PFA Player of the season, Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year and front runner to nearly every premier league midfielder’s award from this season, Bruno Fernandes’ importance to Manchester United should not be ignored. Breaking David Beckham’s assist record with 21, alongside 9 goals, he has been integral, a driving force behind Carrick’s success.
After a difficult spell playing as a number eight in Amorim’s system with the likes of Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund ahead of him last season, he still provided ten goals and eight assists. He is a changed force under Carrick however, almost playing alongside the main striker at times in a 4-4-2 formation, and on the ball in the ten when in the final third.
He played with flair, confidence, and a sheer determination to break records. He somewhat controversially broke the assist record on the final day, after assisting Patrick Dorgu’s bullet header against Brighton from a corner. After the PGMOL reviewed the goal in heavy scrutiny, there was a hint that the header was not on target, and actually came off Mark Verbruggen – the Brighton keeper – and therefore the assist has potential to be chalked off.
Carrick seems to have unlocked the full potential of Fernandes during his spell as manager, with Bruno himself claiming in an interview with Sky Sports that he hadn’t played better than he has right now, across his United career. However, unlike previous campaigns in the last decade or so, it was not thoroughly a one man job, which leads to another season defining point
3. Ruben’s super summer signings.
Despite Amorim’s questionable style of football and in game management, not a hint of negativity can be said about any of his previous summer additions to the squad. Matheus Cunha arrived with a £60m price tag from Wolves, the first signing of the summer with expectations already high, and pressure to perform under the iconic number ten shirt.
After his 17 goal season in a struggling Wolves side, United knew they had signed a star, but the impact he has had on the club can’t be measured from just his goals. His attitude, confidence and desire to fight has been infectious on the team. Keeping with the pattern of signing from premier league sides, Bryan Mbeumo was also added to the roster in a £73m package fee from Brentford.
Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens followed with a combined summer spend of £215m guaranteed fee, which on paper looks like a safe chance of success, but as of the last decade, spending big doesn’t necessarily correlate to success in United’s case.
In the words of Coombs, “Benjamin Sesko also looks a real prospect and will finish as top scorer as it stands. It was a case of quantity as well as quality in attack. You can’t easily find a 30-goal striker – so we have added three players to overhaul the forward line.”
Ever since the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic started to produce these alien goalscoring numbers in the early 2010s, expectations on a young striker with a big transfer fee have increased massively. With Sesko however, bagging double figures in goals, outscoring the likes of Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Nick Woltemade, he has had a fine start to his United career, and he looks to be one for the future for United.
Matheus Cunha has had an equally positive impact on the team and goalscoring numbers too. Like Sesko and Mbeumo, he was not acquired for cheap, however with his fruitful attacking numbers, defensive work rate and sheer determination for his badge and his teammates, he looks to be an incredibly smart transfer from Ineos.
Bryan Mbeumo has been steady overall for the Red Devils since his arrival. His fantastic finish at Anfield and coolly slotted finish against City have shown the world glimpses of his quality throughout the season, however he is yet to tear it up for United. Having said that, with 10 goal contributions just under Amorim, he has far from disappointed.
The greatest signing of the summer has got to be Senne Lamens. Bought for £18m from Antwerp, he has been flawless as the season has proceeded. Solidarity, shot stopping, confidence, class, he has been exactly what United have needed since Andre Onana’s horrific 2-year spell at the club. Gupta also great praise for Lammens: “Just for the sheer impact, Lammens has had relative to the fee and expectations, he’d be my standout.”
Old Trafford 24/10/2025 playing against Brighton
4: Over to you Ineos
With a World Cup on the horizon, and a pre-season to take place not so long afterwards, Ineos need to play their cards fast in the summer transfer window to get their targets in. With Manchester City in hot pursuit of Elliot Anderson’s signature, and Areline Tchouameni attracting interest from Europe, transfers which may take United to the next level may slip away.
Gupta said: “No prizes for guessing that the midfield needs an overhaul, and Ineos know that. Casemiro is done, Ugarte should be done, while the likes of Toby Collyer and Sekou Kone haven’t shown enough to come in and be rotational players. A marquee midfielder plus two rotational options are needed. Marquee man plays alongside Mainoo, while depth is given by two rotational names, alongside prospects like Jim Thwaites from the academy.”
Dan Coombs added: “There are two big aspects to worry about, purely in terms of standing still, let alone advancing. One, we must replace Casemiro, and two, we must add depth across the squad so that we can cope with an increased fixture schedule. I expect at least two first team signings in midfield, and then the rest will depend on opportunity and budget.”
Jack Flintham, Manchester United and Manchester City writer for Manchester Evening news explained: “Ineos have given the contract, chosen their man for their project, the cards are in their hands to back him.”
The future is looking bright for Manchester United, and a new season cant come fast enough. Fans of the club have a different energy, and a belief in the manager and team, let’s see how Ineos can handle the window.
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