Under Michael Carrick, Manchester United have been the best team in the Premier League. Which is making things really rather awkward for some.<\/p>\n
Carrick has backed United into a corner they did not anticipate. When the ex-midfielder was appointed as interim manager in January, there was little realistic expectation that he would transform the Red Devils\u2019 fortunes \u2013 certainly to this extent<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Had things gone roughly as United \u2013 and, let\u2019s be honest, us and everyone else<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 expected, it would have been easy to thank Carrick for keeping the seat warm before the appointment of a big-name manager to oversee whatever the next cycle has in store.<\/p>\n But, nearly four months on, the landscape looks very different.<\/p>\n Carrick has qualified for the Champions League with three games to spare, winning 10 of his 14 matches, beating the other five members of the Big Six as well as Aston Villa amid a 17-point swing between United and the Villans.<\/p>\n MORE: Man Utd the best in Premier League by some distance under Michael Carrick<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Not only could Carrick have done no more to glow up his own CV, but none of the big names seem all that keen on following him. All of which makes for some logic-defying mental gymnastics from those refusing to tweak their thinking despite the shift in context.<\/p>\n We can tolerate those who maintain the view that Carrick lacks experience at the very highest level; that\u2019s almost indisputable. But every manager has earned the right to be trusted somewhere, the majority in less pressurised situations than Manchester United.<\/p>\n Where we tend to stop listening is when people say Carrick \u2018lacks the charisma\u2019 to be United boss. Or when Troy Deeney starts talking.<\/p>\n