Matheus Cunha has come out and said that Michael Carrick has the Ferguson magic. Right. Okay. Let's just take a breath here.
Look, nobody wants this to be true more than United fans. Genuinely. After everything they have been through these past few years, the idea that some ghost of Sir Alex is floating around Carrington and possessing a former holding midfielder turned interim boss is exactly the kind of story the club needs right now. And Cunha, bless him, clearly means it. He is not the type to say things for the sake of it. The lad has been brilliant since moving to Old Trafford and his opinion carries genuine weight.
But here is the thing. Ferguson magic is not something you just have. It is built over decades of absolute brutality, genius, hairdryers, and a borderline terrifying ability to make world class players feel like they owed him something. You cannot inherit that. You earn it through about forty years of Tuesday night reserves games in the rain.
What Carrick probably does have, and this is actually worth something, is the respect of the dressing room. He played under Ferguson. He knows what the standards looked like from the inside. He won things. He is calm. He is not running around like a headless chicken making everything worse. In a season that has been absolute chaos at United, having someone who just steadies the ship is not nothing.
The real question is whether United give him a proper run at it or whether they panic and bring in some expensive name who needs six months to figure out which way the training ground canteen faces. It is like Rocky being handed the fight of his life but only being allowed to train for a week. The potential might be there but the setup is all wrong.
Carrick deserves a genuine chance. Whether he has the Ferguson magic or not, the man clearly has something. And right now United need something more than nothing.
Let me know your thoughts.