Michael Carrick’s in-tray: The five key things Man Utd’s interim boss must sort
Manchester United have confirmed Michael Carrick as their interim head coach until the end of the season. Pic: Isabel Infantes/PA Wire.
Manchester United have announced former midfielder Michael Carrick as their head coach until the end of the season.
Carrick – who briefly stepped in as caretaker manager for three games in 2021, winning two and drawing one – replaces Ruben Amorim in the United hotseat.
This what the former Manchester United midfielder will have at the forefront of his mind at Old Trafford.
Out of both domestic cups and not in a European competition for the first season since 2014-15, United are guaranteed to finish the season trophyless so their only aim now is a top-four finish.
Amorim left the club in sixth, within three points of fourth, and Darren Fletcher, who took charge of United’s FA Cup defeat by Brighton on Sunday, stressed salvaging the season rested on finishing in the Champions League positions.
However, Carrick’s first fixtures in charge are Saturday’s visit of crosstown rivals Manchester City followed by a trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal – as daunting a start as it gets.
Amorim attracted a lot of scrutiny for a rigid attachment to his 3-4-3 formation, which had success at previous club Sporting Lisbon but seemed to be a straitjacket for many United players.
When he switched to a more pragmatic 4-2-3-1 set-up as United welcomed Newcastle on St Stephen's Day, Amorim’s side won 1-0 and recorded only their second clean sheet of the season.
It was his last win in the job after going back to the flawed 3-4-3, a system Carrick seems unlikely to continue with.
Kobbie Mainoo fell spectacularly out of favour with Amorim in the Portuguese’s last few months, failing to even start a Premier League match this season.
The England midfielder saw a request to leave on loan rejected in August and speculation over a January exit began to build, but Amorim’s departure could transform his fortunes after Carrick said in September he was a fan of the 20-year-old.
Carrick told former team-mate Rio Ferdinand: “To have a talent like that, as he’s shown already, you’ve got to have players like that. They get it, they know it, let’s build around them. There’s definitely a place for him (Mainoo) there, for sure.”
When Frank Ilett decided in October 2024 he was not going to cut his hair until United won five successive matches, it probably never occurred to him the challenge would outlive Amorim’s tenure.
Sporting an ‘afro-style’ haircut, Ilett has become a minor social media celebrity, his popularity growing – like his hair – with each video after yet another United setback.
Only once this season have United come close to putting Ilett out of his misery, with three wins in a row in October before a draw. Carrick must get United back to winning week in, week out more often.
The inability to string wins together has led many former United players, such as Gary Neville and Roy Keane, to question their mindset.
Fletcher was the latest to draw attention to how “fragile” the players are in the aftermath of the defeat by the Seagulls, urging them to “dig deep” and “battle, grind, fight, work” to gain confidence.
Carrick, though, has a character that gets the approval of Sir Alex Ferguson, who in 2017 said he admired the ex-midfielder leaving his home in the north-east as a teenager in 1999 to start his professional career with West Ham.
“It epitomised to me the confidence the boy had in himself. That impressed me,” Ferguson said.
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