Mbeumo and Carrick reveal genius behind Man United's set piece brilliance

Former Manchester United defender Jonny Evans has been credited with the Red Devils' improvement from set pieces in recent matches, particularly the clever routine which resulted in Bryan Mbeumo’s opener in the 2-0 victory against Tottenham, their fourth consecutive victory under Michael Carrick.

The former Northern Ireland international played over 160 matches for the Red Devils across two stints, the most recent of which ran from 2023 to 2025 before he hung up his proverbial boots. He went into coaching after retiring and is a member of Carrick’s coaching staff. 

Manchester United have improved tremendously in terms of set pieces since Ruben Amorim’s first weeks in charge, when he underlined deadballs as a problem he had to fix. After the first-half of the season, they were joint top with Arsenal for goals scored from set-piece situations.

That potency has not waned under Carrick, as their opener against Tottenham came from a clever routine finished off by Cameroon international Mbeumo. After the game, he revealed that Evans was the brains behind the brilliant move.

“It was the coach who wanted to practice this in training. We did it once; it didn't work out, but this one was the most important,” Mbuemo said. “It was Jonny Evans who was coming to me and the guys.”

In a conversation with TNT Sports, Carrick corroborated the story, revealing that Evans had been keen on improving their potency from set plays. “Yeah, it was Jonny; he has had his eye on set-plays, Jonny Evans, and Kaita, the analyst. So it's great when things come off. Obviously, we've all got different ideas, but the lads carried it off great. Bruno, Kobbie and Bryan put it away, so we're delighted with that.”

“I wouldn't say he's the set-piece coach, Jonny, but he's got an eye on it as well as we all have. Jonny has been doing a lot of work with the players and got the rewards for that, so we're delighted. 

“We go into every game with some ideas and when you see it come off as good as that, and as important as that, it was the first goal and massive. It shows how important they can be.”