If the actual Premier League table has a pleasing look for Manchester United, a variant of it is still more striking. Take a start date of 13 January and it shows them top, with 16 points from six games; two more than Chelsea, six better than Liverpool and eight better than Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours in the overall standings. Arsenal and Manchester City have both beaten in that time, which is because they lost to United.
The start date is not arbitrary. It was when Michael Carrick took the reins, seemingly for five months. And yet, with each week, it seems likelier he will retain them for rather longer. Carrick’s CV did not qualify him to manage United when he was sacked by Middlesbrough last summer. Yet the Solskjaer principle seems in operation: when a caretaker does so well he becomes the logical appointment.
