Why Man United should think twice about hiring Mic...

playMichallik: Man United need major squad improvements (2:16)Janusz Michallik believes Manchester United must invest in their squad to reach the next level. (2:16) The first time Manchester United fired their cantankerous Portuguese manager with the team two spots adrift of the Champions League places, they hired a beloved former player with no high-level managerial experience to be the interim coach ... and then won 14 of their next 19 games. Players said things like this: "Of course we want him to stay. The results have been great." And this: "What else does he have to do?" Or this: "I don't think I need to say much after all these results, it looks certain." It soon became certain, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lasted a little over a full season as the permanent manager after Jose Mourinho. And, well ... then this season Manchester United fired their cantankerous Portuguese manager with the team two spots adrift of the Champions League places, and so they hired a beloved former player with no high-level managerial experience to be the interim coach ... and he won 10 of his first 15 games in charge. Players are saying things about Michael Carrick like this: "In my opinion, he completely deserves it [the Manchester United job], I think he's a guy who has already demonstrated that he has very good qualities to be a Manchester United coach." And this: "To be part of everything that he did is a pleasure, and then of course I think he deserves it." Or this: "You want to follow him. You want to fight for him. You want to die for him on the pitch." With Man United clinching Champions League qualification for the first time in three seasons -- just a year after they finished in 15th place under Ruben Amorim -- and with players willing to risk their lives for him on the field, it seems quite likely that Manchester United are going to make Michael Carrick their permanent manager. In a lot of ways, it seems obvious that they should. But haven't United already tried this once before? Shouldn't they, at least, be a little wary of riding too high off a nice run of short-term results? - Lamine Yamal and risk created by too much of a good thing - Why Champions League tells us little about Premier League - USMNT depth chart: Top 15 players in each position, ranked Since Carrick took over at Old Trafford, Man United have won more points than any other club in the Premier League: Extrapolate that out over a full season, and United are on an 84-point pace. If Arsenal win their final two matches, they'll win the Premier League with 85 points. So, you can at least squint your eyes and see where someone like Mason Mount is coming from when he says he thinks this team can win the Premier League next season. Plus, those weren't some simple 33 points. No, United have played everyone else inside the Premier League's top five since Carrick took over. Their record against Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Aston Villa? Fifteen points from a possible 15. They've also beaten Chelsea and Spurs, which is less impressive than it's supposed to be, but all of those clubs have played in the Champions League over the past two years, and United have won all seven of those games. On top of that, Carrick has done the thing that Amorim was especially terrible at: not alienating academy stars. Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were seemingly driven away from the club because of Amorim's inflexibility -- either in how he plays, or how he's willing to manage different personalities -- and Kobbie Mainoo barely played. Under Amorim this year, the now-21-year-old Mainoo featured in just 12% of the Premier League minutes. Since Carrick took over? Mainoo is playing 92% of the time, he has signed a new contract, and he's telling the media that he's willing to lose his life for his new coach. play0:49Michael Carrick: Man Utd contract is out of my handsMichael Carrick says "clarity" is needed about his future at Manchester United but believes the decision is not up to him. As I've written in the past, if United are ever going to challenge for titles again, they need to hit on a couple of academy stars. If Liverpool or Arsenal acquired players of equivalent quality to Trent Alexander-Arnold or Bukayo Saka, they would've had to spend upward of $200 million on salaries and transfer fees. Instead, they both got and still get many years of world-class performance without any transfer fee at all. They were then able to put all of that saved spending into strengthening other areas of squads that became two of the best teams in the world. You, of course, can't do that if your coach isn't willing to give those kinds of players a chance to actually play. United will be very lucky if Mainoo ever comes close to the level of play that we've seen from TAA and Saka, but there's no indication that Carrick wouldn't give opportunities to any other promising prospects who emerge from the pipeline. And then, lastly, Carrick has changed the way United pl

Why Man United should think twice about hiring Mic...

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