United need Carrick, badly

Manchester United are struggling without their main man in the middle and their results show it.

When Carrick is missing, the club struggle and after having some seriously impressive results, everything has now gone to pot again after losses against Chelsea and Everton, despite having the lion’s share of possession, both times.

Louis van Gaal claims he will stay true to his easy on the eye footballing philosophy and there is no denying United are in far better shape now than this time last season, but they have plenty of improvements to make – and LVG will have to spend big this summer if he wants to win a title in one of the three seasons he aims to be at Old Trafford for.