Manchester United drew as Carrick announced the training plan for the next two weeks! Pleased with the Red Devils' spirit, achieving 3 last-minute wins in 5 games.

After Carrick assumed coaching duties, Manchester United's winning run was stopped by a 1-1 draw with West Ham. Still, although a bit disappointed post-match, Carrick is generally happy with the outcomes of his initial period as manager. The squad will have 13 days before heading to an away game against Everton. Carrick affirmed that the team will remain in Manchester for training and will not participate in any training camps or commercial games elsewhere.

For Carrick, who only took charge on January 13, this break is a valuable opportunity for the team to rest and recover, allowing some players to heal minor injuries, relieve fatigue, take a short rest, and reflect. "Overall, we accept this performance and will reassess after a brief rest," Carrick said after the match. "Looking at the five games as a whole, even with one draw, the results have been quite positive."

After this round, Manchester United will definitely remain in fourth place, still holding the initiative in the race for Champions League qualification. Although the advantage isn't decisive, with Chelsea and Liverpool close behind, few predicted such results after Rúben Amorim's departure.

“We know how difficult it is to maintain a winning streak in the Premier League,” Carrick said. “Sometimes everything flows naturally, smoothly, with all elements perfectly aligned. You look very threatening and play attractively. But at other times, it can seem a bit stiff.”

Under three different managers, Manchester United has now remained unbeaten in nine Premier League matches. However, whether under Amorim, Darren Fletcher, or Carrick, there have been matches that were expected wins but slipped away. The game against West Ham, currently in the relegation zone, clearly falls into this category.

Carrick has not escaped Manchester United’s usual frustration against weaker teams; this season, the team has offered "gifts" to the three clubs in the relegation zone: West Ham, Burnley, and Wolves. Nevertheless, Carrick has performed significantly better than Amorim, at least fighting hard to salvage a point in the final moments of the match.

When the two teams met at Old Trafford last December, the only attacking change Amorim made was substituting Mason Mount for Zirkzee 12 minutes before the end. In the final moments, he replaced Luke Shaw with Lisandro Martínez but did not use youth players Kobe Meno and Shea Lacey to boost the attack.

Carrick took a more daring approach, substituting Sheshko for the underperforming Cunha and, eight minutes before the end, replacing full-back Diogo Dalot with Zirkzee. Carrick switched to a three-center-back formation, pushing the team forward.

This risk could have led to conceding again, but fortunately, Lenny Yaro made two crucial blocks, and Senna Lamens also made a brilliant save, keeping the team’s hopes alive. Ultimately, Sheshko scored a stoppage-time equalizer, rewarding Carrick’s substitutions.

“If you can’t win, it’s worth taking risks to gain something from the game,” Carrick said. “We all want a perfect ending and to show our best form. But sometimes things don’t go as planned, which doesn’t mean you give up. We chose a different tactic, keeping three players in defense and pushing everyone else forward to try to score. That’s how Manchester United should play.”

Manchester United’s overall performance was lacking, but the Red Devils’ spirit shone through in the final moments. Just like Carrick’s mentor Ferguson during his playing days, who always took risks at the end to strive for better results.

Carrick’s Manchester United scored a winning goal against Arsenal in the 87th minute, a 90th-minute winner against Fulham, and a 96th-minute equalizer against West Ham. Carrick is quite satisfied with earning 13 points in the last 15 minutes of games and pleased with the team’s never-give-up attitude. Of course, it’s still not enough; if they fail to qualify for the Champions League this season, it won’t be seen as a success.