Why Man Utd and Michael Carrick have ditched plans to head to Saudi Arabia for lucative mid-season friendly

Per The Times, United had tentative plans to head to the Middle East for what could have been a money-spinning friendly. Earlier this season, Amorim claimed that the club "had to do it". 

He reasoned that the club had no other choice due to their failure to qualify for European competition. 

He said: "We have to do it. And you know, we knew that when we missed out on Europe, we have a lot of things to do. We have our fans, we have the budget, we have to to compensate for a lot of things. So we have to do it. We will do it. We want to be with our fans around the world. If you have to do it, you have to manage to find the space to do it."

Carrick and United now appear to have rowed back on plans as the club's appetite for the lucrative game "has waned." While talks could reopen after the international break, United had earmarked this week as an ideal potential spot for the proposed exhibition match, which may have raised millions in revenue. United face West Ham on Tuesday, before a 13-day break ahead of their next game against Everton, as they have already been eliminated from the FA Cup. 

The Kuwait Football Association had claimed that they had been asked to arrange a friendly for United, but that has not been verified.

Kuwait Football Association president, Ahmad Al-Yousef, said: “I can’t organise an event for Manchester United’s arrival during 17 or 18 days."

Carrick did also have the option of taking his players on a warm-weather training camp but has opted against it and is instead likely to hand his squad four days off.

United have won their last four league games under Carrick and now sit fourth, a point clear of Chelsea in fifth and 12 behind leaders Arsenal. Carrick believes that the extra time on the training ground afforded by their lack of Europe and their elimination from the FA Cup has helped them become more defensively solid, as United have kept two clean sheets in their last four.

He said: “It’s pleasing for sure and it’s easier to win games without having to score so many goals every week. We do seem to be a team that can cause a lot of problems and create opportunities and score goals, so it’s definitely getting the balance right.

“There’s still things to improve on, it’s definitely something we’ve focused on, trying to be better as a team collectively when we don’t have the ball, but in three or four weeks, you’re not going to fix everything and all of a sudden look perfect."

He added: “You’ve got to enjoy the buzz of winning, right? That’s what we’re in it for,” the 44-year-old said. “You’ve got to manage the highs of it and you’ve got to enjoy the feeling of winning a game.”

United must do without Matthijs de Ligt, Mason Mount, and Patrick Dorgu for their clash with West Ham.

Carrick added: “Mason will be back for the Everton game. It feels like Matthijs has been away for a long time at the moment, so we’ll see how he develops. He’s positive, he’s moving in the right direction, but Mason’s a little bit closer than him.”