Paul Scholes on Manchester United's Revival Under Michael Carrick
Paul Scholes has welcomed Manchester United’s revival under Michael Carrick – but he does not see his old club going toe-to-toe with Arsenal for the Premier League crown just yet.
Carrick walked into an Old Trafford dressing room drifting towards a lost season when he replaced Ruben Amorim in January. United were staring at the possibility of missing out on the Champions League and even European football altogether.
Six months later, they had surged to third. The Red Devils finished only seven points behind Manchester City, their late-season form fuelling talk that Carrick could launch a serious title push in his first full campaign.
Scholes is not buying that. Not yet.
Scholes impressed by Carrick – but sounds a warning
Speaking on The Overlap, the former midfielder pointed straight at Carrick’s personality as the foundation for United’s turnaround.
“I think it comes from Michael Carrick’s character. He’s just a calm and relaxed character, he won’t ever get too high or too low,” Scholes said.
That calm has steadied United. It has not, in Scholes’ eyes, turned them into champions.
“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.”
United’s recruitment, he argued, has been done in phases. The front line came first.
“This time last year they seemed to sort out the forward line which is now much better and much more dangerous,” he said.
Even there, he sees a gap.
“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.”
Problems through the middle
If United’s attack now carries more threat, Scholes’ main concern sits in the spine of the team – and it is a familiar one.
“It feels like the priority this summer has been the middle of the pitch and that area was a problem last season,” he said. “I still think it’s a problem, not just from centre midfield but centre half as well because every team that had joy against us, it felt like they were coming straight down the middle because of the lack of pace and mobility in there.”
Andrey Santos has arrived, but Scholes is not ready to place too much weight on him.
“I’ve hardly seen [Andrey] Santos play so you need to give the lad a chance but I still think there might need something else in there,” he admitted.
He likes Youri Tielemans with the ball. Without it, he is not convinced.
“[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.”
That criticism bites hardest at the back.
“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,” Scholes said. “In that position you need players who are reliable every single week but United’s are always picking up injuries.”
He rattled through the list. None escaped unscathed.
“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.
“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.”
Arsenal set the standard
All of this comes against the backdrop of an Arsenal side that have just reset the bar.
Mikel Arteta’s team ended their long wait for a league title last season, lifting the Premier League trophy for the first time since 2004 and reaching the Champions League final, where they lost to PSG on penalties.
They have not stood still. The Gunners are piecing together another sharp transfer window and underlined their momentum with a ruthless 3-0 win over Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.
That is the level Scholes is measuring United against. Right now, he believes Arsenal are out in front.
Carrick faces a new kind of test
There is also a different kind of challenge coming Carrick’s way. United’s charge to third last season came without the strain of European football.
“The thing Michael Carrick is going to have to deal with now as well is midweek football,” Scholes said. “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 tightens, the margins shrink, the squad’s weaknesses get exposed. That is the reality Scholes sees looming.
Yet he does not doubt Carrick’s ceiling.
“I think Michael Carrick can win the Premier League with Manchester United but it won’t be this season. But if he can build the right team he can do that.”
For now, the work starts again. United open their 2026-27 Premier League campaign at home to newly-promoted Hull City this weekend.
Arsenal begin their title defence a day earlier, under the Friday night lights, against Coventry City.
Two clubs, two very different starting points. The question that lingers over Old Trafford is simple: can Carrick close that gap quickly enough to turn promise into a genuine title fight?
