NATHAN SALT: Carrick’s attacking conundrum for the rest of the season

Michael Carrick bristles when the word ‘dropped’ is thrown around.

Five attackers – Amad Diallo, Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko – don’t fit into four positions and so one will always miss out.

That man won’t be Fernandes, the team’s best player and its talisman as captain. It’s also unlikely to be top scorer Mbeumo, either.

For six of Carrick’s seven games that man was Sesko, until his super sub appearances meant he forced his way into the starting XI.

Against Crystal Palace it was Amad that went – or as many put it, dropped – to the bench. For Carrick, the debate around how his attack functions is being framed through the wrong lens.

‘It’s not from week to week that all of a sudden we’re really a fan of certain players and then the next week you’re on the bench and we don’t like you anymore. It’s really not that,’ Carrick said ahead of the trip to Newcastle.

‘Amad’s been massive for us so it’s not a major downside that he didn’t start. He’s a big player for us.

‘So, I think that’s our approach to it and the boys have been fantastic. I know we’ve ended up keeping a consistent team, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change things around and it means it’s a big fallout or someone’s had a bad game so they’re out the team, it’s not necessarily that at all.

‘The boys have been really good with that and with the flexibility and the rotations. Maybe we can change things about a little bit which is great for us to have.’

The decision to pull Amad out of the side, on paper, perhaps made the most sense.

From six starts in Carrick’s seven matches in charge, the diminutive Ivorian hasn’t managed a single goal or assist, compared to Cunha (two goals, two assists) and Mbeumo (three goals, two assists). For a player of his stock, that’s not good enough.

But Amad is the most natural winger available to Carrick, the most comfortable staying wide and driving at full-backs. He showed as much off the bench against Palace.

Both Cunha and Mbeumo have shown a consistent desire to come back inside, altering the balance of the team, particularly in the past three matches where West Ham, Everton and Palace have all had joy at stifling United for large spells.

The challenge to Carrick and his staff – and winning certainly helps this – is keeping all of these attackers bought in whether they are in or out of the side.

Amad’s cryptic post on Snapchat on Tuesday morning in which he wrote, ‘What is meant to grow does not stay in the same place forever’, was a pertinent reminder of the delicate balance that needs to be struck.

‘He’s such a dream to work with,’ Carrick said of Amad.

‘His attitude, he’s so positive, he wants to learn, he wants to keep pushing and he asks for more, “what can I do more, how can I improve?” He’s desperate to do well and he’s been a huge part of the team and he will be [moving forward].

‘Sometimes it’s the eye-catching bits and the bits that we kind of know he can bring and other times his work off the ball and defending.

‘That’s huge to be able to do that for that type of player really so he’s got a lot of attributes and the way he came on [against Crystal Palace] didn’t surprise me because he’s been so positive all week, so I’ve been really happy.’

And there is plenty of merit to going back to Amad up at Newcastle, trying to use his pace to go at a side that are quaking on their own patch after three straight home league defeats.

But then comes the debate, again, of who makes way? Cunha has been the go-to option on the left, although Amad made an impact there for parts against West Ham. Mbeumo has not looked too comfortable out there, while perhaps the best in that position in the past three weeks has been Fernandes, often drifting out to that wing to allow Cunha to come inside, where he wants to be. Or do you drop Sesko and return to the fluid front three that squeezes Cunha/Mbeumo/Amad all in?

United shifted many of their wingers – with good reason – to appease the Ruben Amorim 3-4-2-1 that made a lot of them redundant.

Out went Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan), Jadon Sancho (Aston Villa, loan), and Antony (Real Betis, loan).

Go further back and the likes of Memphis Depay, Daniel James, Angel di Maria and Wilfried Zaha all got short shelf lives, ripping up the wing depth chart.

Now United, across first team and the academy, are searching for wide players and balance, something that is proving quite the conundrum right now.

On Monday night the Under-21s fielded central midfielder Jack Moorhouse off the left. Previously right back Jaydan Kamason has played higher up.

While United are getting results at first-team level, going unbeaten under Carrick, even he will not deny that the left-hand side still feels very much a work-in-progress.

‘You’re always looking at the balance of the team and the squad to give you the utmost flexibility, so it’s definitely something to look at for sure [in the summer transfer window],’ Carrick said.

‘But I think Matheus can play that at times. Amad can do that at times.

‘There’s different ways of doing it. I think we’ve got really good options across the front line and we can change things in games and we have done quite a lot actually, sometimes smaller things, sometimes bigger things, certainly Matheus when he plays wide 1v1 he’s tough to stop.’

United are scoring and United are winning so Carrick can smile when he’s quizzed on how to ‘fix’ a side that hasn’t lost under his watch.

Yet, Amad won’t stay out the side for long, just like Sesko didn’t. Another selection dilemma is coming up on the horizon.