Manchester United had no choice but to stick with Michael Carrick – here’s what the real test looks like | OneFootball

The first time Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his regime hired a manager for Manchester United, they considered him the most exciting young coach in Europe. The second time they did, they hired a man dismissed by Middlesbrough the previous year. But if Ruben Amorim brought the charisma, Michael Carrick has offered calmness. The excitement from Carrick stemmed from his football, not his personality or his public pronouncements.

Carrick proved the ideal interim, the Amorim antidote. But after four months of Carrick, they decided they wanted more. When he stepped into a short-term task at Old Trafford, he was still an outsider to be offered the job for next season. He became the obvious choice. There was a meritocratic case for Carrick, and he has got a two-year deal. He has earned it: not so much with his time at Middlesbrough, though that showed some promise, but with his results. United have procured the most points since Carrick’s return; 36 in 16 games. Without ever officially announcing his candidature, he took possession of the job.

Rewind to the start of Ratcliffe’s co-ownership and it is safe to assume that Carrick would scarcely have seemed to fit the preferred profile of a head coach. But Amorim was the supposed statement appointment, and it backfired horribly. Rather than unearthing the next Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho, United sunk to their lowest ebb in half a century. Even this season, they were sixth when he was sacked. United’s stated aim was only European qualification: two games in, Carrick had made them favourites to head back to the Champions League.

That spectacular start, of wins over Manchester City and Arsenal, was transformative. Carrick had claimed he wasn’t consciously thinking of what he would do with the team when watching as a fan; but he displayed great clarity of thought when swapping the stands for the technical area. For his first game, he switched to a back four, restored Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo to the team, moved Bruno Fernandes to the No 10 position and gave the team greater potency. Now Fernandes has been named Footballer of the Year and equalled the Premier League’s record for assists in a season, Maguire and Mainoo have new contracts and may be bound for the World Cup.

That virtually all of Carrick’s decisions paid off was testament to his acumen; it helped it was common sense to ditch Amorim’s much-mocked 3-4-3 formation. But if the Portuguese was seen as erratic and emotional around the club, Carrick brought no drama, but a steadying hand. Amorim’s youthful backroom staff were imported from Sporting CP. Carrick added an experienced assistant, in Steve Holland, someone he had never previously worked alongside. Bringing back Jonny Evans was criticised by Roy Keane, among others, but the Northern Irishman is respected in the dressing room.

So is Carrick. After Amorim, with his eviscerating criticisms, Carrick has brought an approach based on encouragement. Thus far, it looks like deft man-management. Players have responded to him. In Carrick’s first spell in temporary charge, Fernandes had told him he would be a great manager. In his second, Amad Diallo, Matheus Cunha and Mainoo called for him to be given the job. The departing Casemiro added his endorsement.

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Carrick has received endorsements from the Manchester United players who wanted him to remain as head coach (Reuters)

Bringing back a former United player seemed to bring back some of the old United. The hierarchy had hoped Amorim’s side would be more expansive and entertaining; they were, just under Carrick. Remarkably, a quarter of his games in charge have ended in 3-2 wins. Carrick – and the previous interim Darren Fletcher – got Benjamin Sesko firing, after he had struggled to score under Amorim. Under him, all three of last summer’s attacking additions, including Bryan Mbeumo and Cunha, had reached double figures for goals. That may have made director of football Jason Wilcox look good.

On and off the field, Carrick made life easier for Wilcox and Omar Berrada, who had appeared an increasingly beleaguered double act. For Ratcliffe, who paid £1.25bn to buy into United and then injected a further £237m of his own money, Carrick brought the tens of millions that Champions League qualification offers. Each may be scarred by their previous managerial choice.

It was notable that, as players, fans and powerbrokers coalesced around Carrick, a couple of the older Old Trafford old boys still suggested they should look elsewhere, in Keane and Gary Neville. But some alternatives melted away: the prospect of Thomas Tuchel or Carlo Ancelotti or Luis Enrique receded.

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Carrick is aided by the experienced assistant coach Steve Holland (PA)

And meanwhile Carrick planned for the long term. He behaved like a United manager; turning up to youth-team games, helping to shape their summer by reviving Mainoo’s career.

Now, though, his job will change dramatically. United will play 40 games this season. Next year could contain 60; Carrick will no longer have the advantages of freshness and time on the training ground. He will have to rotate, and well. The former midfielder will have to buy at least two who play in his position and replace Casemiro. As time goes on, simply not being Amorim will become less of an advantage.

He is a very different character from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but comparisons are inevitable. But, until his last few months, Solskjaer brought progress. In going for Carrick, United may have abandoned some of Ratcliffe’s loftier aims, but looked for quiet consolidation, stability under a low-risk appointment. Carrick’s understanding of United has proved an asset; that understanding underpinned his argument that they should not over-celebrate booking a spot in the Champions League.

But it secured Carrick an extended stay. Which, in turn, could create a vacancy in the stands. Because a season-ticket holder now has a seat in the dugout.