Paul Scholes on Manchester United's Revival under Carrick
Paul Scholes has welcomed Manchester United’s revival under Michael Carrick – but he does not see them hunting down Arsenal for the Premier League crown just yet.
The former United midfielder, who knows a title-winning side better than most after lifting the trophy 11 times, likes the direction of travel. He just thinks the journey has a way to go.
Carrick’s calm lifts a drifting season
United’s season looked ready to collapse last year. Champions League hopes were fading, European football of any kind was under threat, and the mood at Old Trafford had turned flat under Ruben Amorim.
Carrick walked in mid-January and changed the temperature of the club almost overnight.
From a side drifting in mid-table, United surged to a third-place finish, ending the campaign only seven points behind Manchester City. The run was so strong that some supporters have started to talk about a title push in Carrick’s first full season.
Scholes understands the optimism. He just refuses to get carried away.
Speaking on The Overlap, he pointed straight at Carrick’s personality as the anchor of the revival. “He’s just a calm and relaxed character, he won’t ever get too high or too low,” Scholes said, highlighting the manager’s steady hand as a key factor in the turnaround.
Arsenal still the benchmark
The problem, as Scholes sees it, is not United’s progress – it’s Arsenal’s level.
Arsenal stormed to their first Premier League title since 2004 last season and went all the way to the Champions League final, losing to PSG on penalties. They have not eased off.
This summer’s transfer window has been assertive again, and Mikel Arteta’s side underlined their intent with a commanding 3-0 win over Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.
So when Scholes weighs United’s squad against the defending champions, the gap is still there.
“Where you have to judge United’s transfer business is what do you expect from them? Are you expecting them to challenge for the Premier League? I still think that’s a little bit away with the business that’s been done,” he said.
Building in sections – but holes down the spine
Scholes sees logic in United’s recruitment, but also limitations.
“I think on the recruitment point of view, they seem to be doing it in different sections,” he explained. Last summer, the focus was the forward line. That area, he feels, now looks “much better and much more dangerous”.
Even then, he believes United are still light up front. Another centre-forward, in his view, would ease the burden on Benjamin Sesko.
“They could probably still do with another centre forward to help [Benjamin] Sesko out a bit. He’s still young and he did get better last season, there’s no doubt about that.”
This year, the attention has shifted to the middle of the pitch – a problem area last season. Scholes, though, remains unconvinced that the issues have been fully solved.
“I still think it’s a problem, not just from centre midfield but centre half as well,” he said, pointing out that most teams who hurt United did so “straight down the middle” because of a lack of pace and mobility.
He is cautious on Andrey Santos – “I’ve hardly seen [Andrey] Santos play so you need to give the lad a chance” – but again circles back to a familiar concern: legs and reliability.
“[Youri] Tielemans is a brilliant footballer and can control the game but again athleticism isn’t his strength. I still think there’s a problem down the middle, I still think they need centre-halves.”
Centre-backs under the microscope
If United are to be judged as potential champions, Scholes believes their current crop of central defenders falls short.
“I don’t think the current ones are of the quality to try and win the Premier League and that‘s where I judge Man United,” he said.
In that position, he argues, availability is as important as ability. United’s defenders, in his eyes, simply cannot be trusted to stay fit.
“In that position you need players who are reliable every single week but United’s are always picking up injuries.
“We’ve got [Harry] Maguire who’s starting to pick up niggles, Lisandro Martinez just can’t stay fit, Leny Yoro has struggled a bit over the last two years and it looks like the level is a little bit above him, although he’s still young and he might come on with Ayden Heaven.”
For Scholes, the “spine” remains the great unfinished job. Until that core is more robust, more athletic and more dependable, United will feel a step behind the very best.
“So I still think a big area of the pitch is that spine to make the side more solid and give them more legs and have more reliability at centre half,” he said.
A new test for Carrick
Last season, Carrick’s side charged through the run-in without the strain of European fixtures. That changes now.
“The thing Michael Carrick is going to have to deal with now as well is midweek football,” Scholes warned. “He had an unbelievable run last year but everything was in his favour if you know what I mean.
“Now all of a sudden he’s got these extra games which will have an impact on the squad.”
The schedule will stretch United’s depth and expose any weaknesses in that central spine Scholes keeps returning to. It will also reveal how far Carrick’s calm authority can carry a group through the grind of a full, multi-front campaign.
Title dream – but not yet
Scholes is not pessimistic about Carrick’s long-term prospects. Quite the opposite.
“I think Michael Carrick can win the Premier League with Manchester United but it won’t be this season,” he said. The belief is there – it is the timeline he is pushing back.
“If he can build the right team he can do that.”
For now, the focus turns to the opening weekend. United launch their 2026-27 Premier League campaign against newly-promoted Hull City, a fixture they will be expected to control if talk of progress is to carry any weight.
Arsenal begin their title defence the night before, at home to Coventry City. The champions set the standard; Carrick and United, Scholes insists, are still chasing it.
