Carrick and McKenna urged Solskjaer to alter His tactics at United
MICHAEL Carrick and Kieran McKenna were keen for United to adopt a different style of play, but the thenmanager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vetoed it.
Caretaker boss Carrick and firstteam coach McKenna wanted the Reds to play with a back three sooner than the Norwegian eventually did in a bid to arrest their porous defending.
Solskjaer had intended to change to a 4-3-3 formation in pre-season but United remained in a 4-2-3-1 until the 5-0 drubbing by Liverpool prompted a temporary switch to a back three against Tottenham, Atalanta and City.
The Reds beat Tottenham 3-0 in the formation, but abandoned it before half-time at Atalanta due to an injury to Raphael Varane and changed to a back four for the second half against City as they were 2-0 down.
In Carrick’s first match in charge against Villarreal, United started in 4-2-3-1 but changed to 4-4-2 without the ball and 4-3-3 with it. Cristiano Ronaldo, Anthony Martial and Fred all changed roles throughout the 2-0 win.
Carrick and McKenna are responsible for training the players and there was widespread disbelief none of Solskjaer’s backroom staff were sacked with him on Sunday.
Dressing room sources have said former Under-18 coach McKenna’s methods are unpopular with a number of senior players and he has been described as a ‘school teacher’.
Paul Scholes was staggered Solskjaer was the only coaching departure in the wake of the 4-1 thrashing by Watford and was scathing of Carrick, McKenna, and assistant manager Mike Phelan.
“It’s the same people running the team, it’s the same people who had
been given massive responsibility every single week to put that team on the pitch,” Scholes said ahead of the Villarreal tie. “Arguably, it’s more Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick who have been preparing the team. Ole gave them that responsibility to do that. So how that changes now, I don’t know.
“I’d be almost embarrassed being on the staff now after what happened to Ole, to be preparing the team for tonight. I think they should have all gone. Whether it was sacked or off their own back.
“Because they were part of Ole’s team. Ole trusted them to prepare the team for games. They’ve let the players and the club down as much as Ole has. I get the impression Ole put a lot of trust into Michael, he put a lot of trust into Kieran, he put a lot of trust into Mike Phelan, which is why they shouldn’t be at the club now.”