Michael Carrick has had a superb start to life as Man Utd head coach and is putting himself in the frame to keep the job beyond the end of the season.
Michael Carrick and Steve Holland have struck up a good dynamic at Manchester United
Michael Carrick said he “feels at home” back at Manchester United and is loving life as the club’s latest head coach, but is refusing to get carried away over the possibility of staying on beyond the end of the season. Carrick signed a contract until the end of this campaign when replacing Ruben Amorim, but he has won his first three games in charge, including wins against Manchester City and Arsenal, to move United back into the top four.
The 44-year-old will be looking to make it four wins in a row against former club Tottenham today and after seven months out of the game after leaving Middlesbrough, he looks relaxed back in the spotlight at Old Trafford. But he insists that run of victories hasn’t changed his or the club’s plans, with United determined to conduct a thorough search for a new head and Carrick happy for that process to continue.
“I’m fully aware of the role I’m doing here and the responsibility I’ve got,” he said. “We want to be successful. I want the club to be successful beyond the end of the season: if that’s me, if that’s somebody else. At this stage, I can’t control that, and we’ll see what happens.
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“The results over a short period of time don’t change that. If they have changed that, there is something wrong.”
Carrick has refused to push his own credentials in public since he stepped into the role in January, but he did admit ahead of the Old Trafford fixture with Tottenham that he was enjoying the experience.
“I’m loving what I’m doing. I’m here, I feel at home here, but I fully understand the situation, so I’m not getting too carried away,” he said.
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Carrick’s start to life back at the club is all the more impressive given he had to build a coaching staff in a matter of days, with Amorim’s backroom team all departing with him.
He turned to former Chelsea No.2 and England assistant Steve Holland and brought Jonathan Woodgate with him after working together at Middlesbrough. Jonny Evans was recruited by United before Carrick was appointed and Travis Binnion stepped up from his role in the academy.
The dynamic has worked so far, with 55-year-old Holland earning plenty of praise from the players. He has had a long and distinguished coaching career and is a United fan, having grown up in Stockport.
He was recommended by Carrick’s brother Graeme, who worked with Holland while he was at the Football Association, and the decision now looks an inspired one.
“I think when talks were progressing and it looked like I might be coming in here, I was spending some time thinking about what the staff might look like,” said Carrick.
“Having conversations with my brother actually, of what it might look like. And we ended up mentioning Steve. He knew him from the FA and I have come across Steve a number of times, fully aware of his experience and his quality as a coach as well as a person. It ticked a lot of boxes, and it kind of just went from there.
“I spoke to Steve and we clicked straight away. He’s had vast experiences in different scenarios. Being at Chelsea for so long, being successful winning trophies, knowing what it takes, different style, different managers, different types of players.
“He’s had a real good knowledge and backstory to pick at. We speak a lot about different things, all of us, all the staff.”
Holland spent eight years at Chelsea and worked under Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo, Rafa Benitez, Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Antonio Conte, earning a wealth of experience at a club that regularly changed managers.
Carrick also worked under Mourinho when he moved into coaching at United, with the Portuguese gifting the retiring midfielder an old whistle and a packet of headache tablets when he hung up his boots at the end of the 2018 season.
“Jose I learned a lot from in the five months when I was coaching,” said Carrick. “When you see how he works, how he thinks and how he sees players and things end up coming off that he predicted at certain times. So he had a real good eye for that.
“There’s certainly that connection [with me and Steve]. I wouldn’t say it’s totally me and Steve with Jose, but it’s definitely common kind of factors that help us work together, for sure.”
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