It’s been a quiet(er) week for Manchester United.Third place secured, Champions League football in their back pocket. A farewell to Casemiro. Michael Carrick’s future — sorted.For a change, the action is happening elsewhere: Arsenal have ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title, Pep Guardiola is leaving Manchester City, Chelsea have appointed their fourth manager of the season — fifth if you count both of Calum McFarlane’s interim spells — and social media has been awash with rumours about Arne Slot’s future at Liverpool after Mo Salah’s damaging post. As if that wasn’t enough, Spurs need final-day salvation to avoid relegation from the Premier League.So what can United learn from all of that, and can they take advantage of any moments of weakness their rivals might suffer as a result?We discussed this at length on Thursday’s Talk of the Devils. It’s definitely a point to take stock after the club confirmed Michael Carrick’s permanent appointment as head coach on Friday.First of all, the Champions, Arsenal. I’ve not written that for a while. James McNicholas’ excellent piece on Tuesday painted a detailed picture of how they climbed back to the Premier League’s summit. A title six years in the planning. A projected “win window” of 2023 to 2027 after a “rigorous analysis of rival squads, contract lengths, age profiles, and managerial timelines”. Smart. It’s needed a lot more than just that along the way, of course; patience, first and foremost in Mikel Arteta as he wrestled to first reset the club and then break the glass ceiling of second place. But there’s been a plan.It feels like, finally, United have one of those, too. ‘Project 150’ — first reported by Adam Crafton and Laurie Whitwell in late 2024 — is the ambition to win the Premier League by 2028 which will mark the club’s 150th anniversary. It’s deeper than just that aim with “a series of targets set” to “to focus energy and efforts” as chief executive Omar Berrada told Andy Mitten in a United We Stand interview last summer. A “transformation phase” was completed under Ruben Amorim. It was a reset of the squad culture. Amorim told me in an interview at the start of the season that he had set out a framework with Berrada and football director Jason Wilcox for what they expected of the players on and off the pitch. Watching the group together with their families after the Forest game certainly gave the sense that there is a happy and united squad again.