Michael Carrick: What should Man United do with club legend? – Man United News And Transfer News

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Manchester United have been in sensational form since Michael Carrick was appointed interim manager.

Great start

After the disappointment of the Ruben Amorim era, Carrick roared onto the scene with an emphatic 2-0 win over Manchester City.

He followed this up with an equally impressive win against Arsenal, before further victories over Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur.

A late draw was salvaged at West Ham United before wins over Everton and Crystal Palace. Nonetheless, his unbeaten record came to an end in a bitterly disappointing loss to ten-man Newcastle United on Wednesday night.

This form has seen the club rise into third place and means that the club has its Champions League qualification chances firmly in its own hands heading into the final nine league matches. Naturally, many fans are wrapped up in a nostalgic yearning to bring back the glory days from a Sir Alex Ferguson disciple.

It is true that Carrick has performed significantly better than most would have guessed in January, but the club should not repeat mistakes from previous eras.

History

United fans have read this script before, when an interim, popular former player has come in and started off at a blistering pace.

The Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won 14 out of 19 matches as interim manager and lost just three times in that period between December 2018 and March 2019. He was confirmed as manager and, despite a second-place finish in 2021, never quite lived up to that promising caretaker period.

Qualifications

United need a manager who is best in class and has dealt with the rigours of managing a top club.

Carrick is a popular man with the fans, says the right things and genuinely loves the club. All great traits. Nonetheless, is this enough to manage Manchester United?

All in all, Carrick has only managed 11 Premier League matches in his career. Granted, he has won eight, but this is an incredibly small sample size.

His only other managerial experience is as Middlesbrough boss, where he did an impressive job but was sacked last summer after failing to get into the play-offs. Not to discredit his work at Boro, but the same side are now second in the Championship without him.

It begs the question: would United fans want to hire a manager permanently whose only substantial experience was the Championship if he had never played and won for the club? Many fans would turn down the notion of appointing Kieran McKenna, for example, and he has significantly more success in the Championship with promotion in 2024 than Carrick has achieved.

Frank Lampard is also leading Coventry City’s push back to the Premier League as they sit atop the Championship table. How many United fans would throw his hat into the ring?

Drop off in forms and tactical concerns

Many supporters may read this and think, yes, but he is winning at United now. That is true. His record is impressive in terms of results.

Granted, it is a results business and a third-place finish come the end of May would be a sensational achievement. Nonetheless, results can paper over cracks effectively; the brutal reality is United have not played that well for weeks.

The City victory was out of this world, and to win at the Emirates just a week later was equally as impressive.

Objectively, United could have easily dropped points against Fulham as they needed an added-on-time winner from Benjamin Sesko. They could have certainly lost to West Ham United and hardly dominated Everton as they sneaked a 1-0 win.

Victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Palace were comfortable enough but were also won with the opposition going down to ten men.

The Newcastle performance was not a blip. It was a warning sign. Eddie Howe tactically took Carrick apart and even managed to achieve this with one man less during the entire second half.

The Red Devils are not playing with the same fluidity they were a month and a half ago, and this is worrying when you consider the amount of time they are on the training pitch with only Premier League matches to concern themselves with.

There is an argument that United have been getting away with moments of individual brilliance and that is what you get when you upgrade your attack to the tune of £200 million.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, United continue their generally positive results and finish in the Champions League spots. Carrick should be warmly applauded if that is the case. Nonetheless, appointing him as permanent manager would be too much of a risk and he should go and earn his stripes elsewhere, ideally in the Premier League. Then, who knows? Perhaps Carrick will then be ready to take the hot seat permanently, but until that point, United cannot repeat the errors of the past.

Michael Carrick Managerial Career Stats

Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images

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