I mean, his last game before this second interim spell ended with a 3-2 triumph over Mikel Arteta and his Gunners. Granted that was a different Arsenal and a different United, one that relied on a hat-trick from a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, but the records will still show that Carrick beat Arteta.
Anyway, this Sunday is a whole different affair.
United have gotten worse, much worse, fours years on from that 3-2 victory whereas Arsenal, still under the command of Arteta, have gotten better, much better.
During this time, United have had Carrick (interim), Ralf Rangnick (interim), Erik ten Hag, Ruud van Nistelrooy (interim), Ruben Amorim, Darren Fletcher (interim) and now Carrick again whilst Arteta was the only man in charge at The Emirates.
SIX different bosses across the last four years!
If that doesn't tell you how many issues we have at Old Trafford, then I don't know what will.
But this is where we are and after the former United midfielder's incredible victory in the Derby, a lot of fans are now saying that we will go on to win the Champions League.
Alright, that's a bit of an over-exaggeration but they are saying that Carrick should get the job and that we do have a good chance of getting a positive result on Sunday.
Let's hope so 🤞.
Predicted Lineup
Same team. I see no reason to change things.
There is the option of bringing Cunha back into the XI but that would mean dropping one of Amad, Bruno (who got an assist), Mbeumo or Dorgu, both of whom scored in the Derby.
Cunha gives us a very good option off the bench as he did last week. When brought on, he was brilliant even grabbing the assist for Dorgu's goal.
Sesko is another who can feel a little hard done by for the second week in a row as he did have 3 goals in two matches before Carrick dropped him against City.
But you can't really change the team that played so well in one of the biggest games of the season.
This also isn't necessarily a bad thing as it does allow Carrick quality on the bench: Sesko, Cunha, Mount, Zirkzee, Mazraoui, who has returned from AFCON. At least we know that if we need to look to our bench, it is looking strong.
Approach
Same approach.
No need to change the starting lineup. No need to change the approach either.
While 'master tacticians' will tell you that what Carrick and United did against Pep and co was a masterclass, we all know deep down that this was something we've seen many times before, against that same opponent as well.
Essentially, it was pretty much defend-and-counter. There was good defensive organization, the midfield were disciplined and in attack, we were ruthless although we should've scored more than the 2 goals.
MOUNT WASN'T OFFSIDE!
Sorry. Just had t get that out.
A good deal with how well we performed also had to do with the fact that City were just unbelievably crap band because of a very weakened and inexperienced defense. This is why United had so much joy on the counter and in transitions resulting in 11 shots with 7 on target, 2 off the woodwork and 3 offside goals.
But we also had just 32% possession which at home to a shit City side is simply not good enough even if we did get the result we did.
Give credit where it's due but let's not doll this up like it was prime Barcelona.
One other issue we've had this season is hitting the frame of the goal. United have done so on 17 occasions which is the most in the league.
That is both a good and bad thing because it means that we're at least creating the chances and getting into good scoring positions but we're not taking them. No point getting into those areas and then flopping, you know?
Against a side like Arsenal, they are the best defense in the league and will be full strength. United won't have so much space to exploit and more than that, both Gabriel and William Saliba are relatively quick for centre-backs. Mbeumo, Amad and Dorgu are fast but they will have their work cut out against those two. This is why we have to take our chances as there probably won't be too many.
United are great at set-pieces but the Gunners are the masters. Their goal in the reverse fixture came from a corner and both in this match last season came from corners as well. This is why someone like Maguire will be key because of his aerial ability in both boxes. He can thwart Arsenal whenever balls come into the box while he is also a massive threat at the other end as well. Harry should've scored early on in the Derby from a header from a couple of yards out. He hit the bar.
The deep line will also help the likes of Maguire, Martinez, Dalot and Shaw who all appear to be more comfortable playing a low block. Minimising the space between defense and midfield will aid the now departing Casemiro too as he won't have as much ground to cover when everyone is all bunched up.
This will then suck Arsenal in allowing us to hit on the break.
Form
That win over City was our first in four matches in all competitions. Three draws in the league before being knocked out by Brighton in the FA Cup a couple weeks ago.
This does weirdly mean that we haven't actually lost any of our last five in the PL. Three draws sandwiched between wins over Newcastle and City.
What those two victories also brought were two clean sheets meaning that 2/3 we've kept came in our last five.
Winning the Derby moved us up into 5th which looks like that last Champions League spot. Liverpool drawing meant we didn't leapfrog them but they are now just 1 point ahead of us.
The issue with United this season hasn't actually been defeats but rather, draws. We've lost five times but have drawn eight which is amongst the most. Last season at this stage, we had just five draws although the defeats were double at 10.
Speaking of last season, United are actually only 3 points better off than after 22 games in 24/25.
But one major improvement has been goal scoring. United's 2 last week put us up to 38 with only Arsenal and City having scored more. This has been the key to us being as high as we are in the table and it is thanks to someone like Mbeumo who has 7 making him our top scorer. The Cameroonian has scored against Liverpool, Spurs and City whilst also playing a major role in United beating Chelsea after he got Robert Sanchez sent off early on in that win.
He's been good against the big 6.
United are still in a lowly 9th in the away table with just three wins in 11 matches. We've also picked up five draws and three losses giving us 14 points. Our goal difference is also at -1 showing that we are heavily reliant on our home form. The majority of our 32 conceded has come on the road as we've let in 19.
Against the big 6 this season, we have 10 points from a possible 18 which is actually a very strong return. It appears as if we do like to play against the big boys.
However, against the Gunners, United have a very poor recent record. We've only gotten two wins in our last nine matches, one of which was Carrick's final game in charge in his first interim stint. There's also been one draw meaning that Arsenal won on the other six occasions including the reverse fixture.
We haven't even won at The Emirates since David de Gea's all-timer performance helping United to a 3-1 win all the way back in 17/18!
Almost 10 years! Fuck me that is pathetic 🤮.
Let's hope that similarly to finally winning at Anfield after 9 years, we can do the same at The Emirates 🤞.
Arsenal
Currently top of the table in the PL and UCL, Arsenal are the best team in the world. Not my words but the words of Pep Guardiola, Arteta's mentor 👀.
What Arsenal have shown this season is consistency as they've not always dominated opponents by romping to a thrashing (although that happens on occasion) but an ability to win ugly causing them to continue to pick up points even when not at their best.
However, the Gunners did drop points last week yet still increased their lead at the top of the table. Don't know whether that indicates how good they've been or how crap everyone else is. Perhaps both.
That 0-0 draw at Forest was their second in a row after Liverpool went to The Emirates and got a point as well.
The problem for them in these last two league games has been that their performance in both was pretty flat. A very boring display resulted in no wins and no goals. This also suggests a reliance on set-pieces to score as without those, the goals aren't coming from anywhere else.
14 of their 40 PL goals have come from set-pieces which accounts to 35%. They've also benefitted from 3 own goals which is a further 7.5% of their total goals scored.
These guys might be the most boring potential champions ever.
Arsenal have recorded 15 wins which is the most. They've also drawn five whilst losing just twice most recently to Villa at the start of December. Their other loss was to Liverpool at the start of the season.
Their 40 scored is only bettered by City's 45 but their 14 conceded is by far the least. David Raya has also kept 11 clean sheets which again, is the most.
Arsenal are also top of the home table having won nine of their 11 matches. They've also drawn twice and have not lost at home. Arteta's side are the only team in the division to have achieved this. They also have the best goal difference of +21 which includes conceding the fewest (5) at home.
Their record however, against the other big six teams isn't the best for a side as good as them. They've won twice against the two shittest (United and Spurs) but drew at Chelsea as well as against City whilst drawing and losing to LFC.
United have more points (10) than Arsenal do (9) in the big six table 👀.
This is a must-win or at the worst, must-not lose as with City playing Wolves at home, you would expect them to get 3 points which would close the gap to 4 before Arsenal take on United.
The Gunners are also at full strength with no injury issues to report. Even Kai Havertz is back in the squad.
Prediction
Tbh, I don't think we'll lose 🤯.
That might be a bit of delusion carrying on from the high we got after the Derby win, but I really do feel like United will go to The Emirates and do a job.
It might be far-fetched but I'm going for a 2-2 draw.
Given the differences between the two sides, that isn't the worst result and to think that Carrick could get 4 points against City and Arsenal in his first two matches is unbelievable.
My gut is telling me that this will be an interesting game. What about you?
Gabriel | Image via Arsenal official X (@Arsenal)
The Emirates | Freddy Tse via Pixabay
Bryan Mbeumo | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)