Manchester United interim coach Michael Carrick disagreed with how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was setting up his team - but was vetoed by the Norwegian on how the club should proceed, according to reports.
Backroom staff members Carrick and Kieran McKenna both wanted to move to a back three sooner, say the Manchester Evening News, while Solskjaer had intended to change to a 4-3-3 formation in pre-season.
United flirted with the 4-3-3 at home to Villarreal - the formation that Solskjaer implemented when he first arrived at Old Trafford - but it wasn't until the 5-0 hammering to Liverpool that the Red Devils actually changed their shape, implementing a 3-5-2 for the 3-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur.
Dressing room sources have also claimed that former Under-18 coach McKenna's methods have been wildly unpopular with a number of senior players with the description "school teacher" being labelled at the coach.
Carrick set up in a 4-2-3-1 against Villarreal for the 2-0 win last night, shifting to a 4-4-2 off the ball but with plenty of players switching roles during the match.
Many were surprised that Carrick and other staff members were not sacked with Solskjaer. Paul Scholes noted before the match on BT Sport that the former United star should have taken as much responsibility for the poor coaching, with many United fans wondering whether Carrick had the pedigree to coach United in the interim period.
Carrick won the Champions League as a United player after arriving in the north west from Tottenham for £16m. An intelligent deep-lying midfielder, he was already regarded a good acquisition for the Red Devils, with many intrigued as to what his coaching career would look like.
United are still looking to hire an interim manager until the end of the season.
‘I received offers from Bolton and Newcastle, but they didn’t progress far. Then Leeds came in – I saw it as a chance to experience a new league and country’: How World Cup winner Roque Junior ended up at Leeds United
‘I don’t think Liverpool would look at Ollie Watkins, a striker isn’t a pressing issue for them – it’s Arsenal who need one’ Former Reds star explains why his old club don’t need an out-and-out forward this summer
