“Michael Carrick surpasses Sir Alex Ferguson as the best coach.”

In the relentless universe of the Premier League, where glory is measured with each game, a surprising statistic has been stirring the corridors of English football: Michael Carrick, the current interim manager of Manchester United, may be surpassing living legends of football management, including the iconic Sir Alex Ferguson. Get ready for an analysis that will shake the foundations of the most entrenched football certainties!

Carrick, who took charge of Manchester United during a turbulent phase of the season, has already overseen twelve matches in the Premier League. His record? Impressive: eight wins, three draws, and just one defeat. Ignoring the small size of the sample—which, let’s face it, doesn’t count for this purpose—this performance places Carrick as the second-best manager in Premier League history in terms of points per game (PPG).

To put this achievement into context, let’s take a look at the ranking of the most effective managers in the Premier League:

– Luiz Felipe Scolari, with 1.96 PPG, took over Chelsea in 2009, but despite reaching 49 points in 25 matches, he was deemed a failure given the high expectations of the club under Roman Abramovich.

– Arsène Wenger, the ‘specialist in failures’ at Arsenal, accumulated 1627 points and is the manager with the most matches in the Premier League (828), with a PPG of 1.96.

– Mikel Arteta slightly surpasses Wenger, with 2.00 PPG, but still has a significantly smaller sample of matches.

– José Mourinho, with an average of 2.02 PPG, combines his periods at Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham, but sees his overall performance dragged down by less favorable results at these last two clubs.

– Antonio Conte shows 2.03 PPG, benefiting from the title won with Chelsea, despite the challenges faced at Tottenham.

– Roberto Mancini, with 2.05 PPG, stands out during his time at Manchester City, even surpassing Manuel Pellegrini, whose record was marred by a less successful stint at West Ham.

– Jürgen Klopp, with an impressive 2.11 PPG, even surpasses the legendary Sir Kenny Dalglish, whose pre-Premier record was 2.07 PPG.

– And finally, Sir Alex Ferguson, the true legend of Manchester United, with an average of 2.17 points per game in the Premier League, a feat that has earned him statues and tributes. However, when considering his entire career, including the pre-Premier League era, his combined PPG drops to 1.89, a figure that surprises and demystifies the myth surrounding the Scot.

This scenario places Michael Carrick in an unusual position: with his 2.25 points per game (calculated from his matches in charge of United), he surpasses all the names above, challenging traditional narratives and suggesting that, despite the limited number of games, we are witnessing a manager with an immediate impact and the potential to redefine what it means to be an elite manager in the Premier League.

Is this the birth of a new legend on the bench of Manchester United? Or are we facing a statistical anomaly that the pressure of ongoing sporting performance will dissipate? One thing is certain: Carrick is creating a storm in the world of English football, and no one can ignore this overwhelming fact.

Prepare to closely follow the career of this man who, for now, is already overshadowing the giants of the past with a record that defies history. Manchester United may be entering a new golden chapter under the leadership of Michael Carrick — and the football world is watching, astonished.

This article first appeared on Apito Final.