Fernandes and Carrick warmth thaws the Amorim cold for Man United

OLD TRAFFORD, MANCHESTER — The smile said it all. In the 81st minute of Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, Bruno Fernandes met Diogo Dalot’s cross with the crisp finish of a man liberated. The goal sealed a fourth consecutive win under interim boss Michael Carrick, kept United in the Premier League’s top four and, more tellingly, produced the rarest of sights: Fernandes grinning from ear to ear.

For seasons the Portugal playmaker has shouldered the creative burden at Old Trafford, often resembling a soldier fighting a lost war. Under Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim the burden grew heavier; the Portuguese coach’s rigid 3-4-2-1 system restricted the very freedom that makes Fernandes special. Carrick, by contrast, has restored autonomy. Against Spurs the 30-year-old drifted off the left, interchanged with Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, and still finished with a goal, an assist and another entry in the analytics ledger: 200 goal involvements in 314 United appearances, faster than club legends Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Post-match Fernandes recalled Carrick’s first caretaker stint in 2021, when the former midfielder oversaw two wins and a draw before departing for Middlesbrough. “I told him then he could be a great manager, and he’s showing it,” the midfielder told TNT Sport. Carrick, in turn, praised Fernandes’ intelligence and commitment: “I’ve known Bruno a long time; we want the same thing for this club.”

The statistics underline the renaissance. Fernandes leads the Premier League with 12 assists in 2025/26 and has created 74 chances, 23 in United’s last five league outings. The single-season assist record of 20 is firmly in view. More importantly, the anguished scowl that defined recent campaigns has been replaced by the exuberance of a footballer enjoying his craft again.

Even reduced to ten men, Spurs could not cope with Carrick’s fluid front four of Fernandes, Mbeumo, Cunha and Amad Diallo. “It’s not a total free-for-all,” Carrick cautioned, “but within structure they can express themselves.” That freedom, absent during Amorim’s doctrinaire reign, has re-ignited Old Trafford. The grey clouds of tactical dogma have lifted; in their place, a Portuguese star and an English coach are proving that warmth and trust can thaw even the coldest of spells.