Michael Carrick is has been confirmed as the new permanent Manchester United head coach.
Here are 12 comprehensive reasons why appointing Michael Carrick permanently is the right decision for Manchester United.
Results speak for themselves
Michael Carrick’s results tell a story already. After his three unbeaten interim games in 2021, Michael Carrick then went unbeaten in his first seven matches in charge in 2026. Most importantly, Carrick has led United to Champions League qualification, the stated objective.
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Carrick deserves the chance to continue, he has earned the right. He did not scrape a qualifying spot, he led United to convincing qualification. Manchester United have been a better team since Carrick took over, and there is no disputing that fact.
Milestone early wins over Manchester City and Arsenal set the tone, and Carrick was able to continue the strong results through to the end of the campaign, defeating Chelsea and Liverpool. He deserves the opportunity to continue the job he has started.
Style of football
Michael Carrick immediately set Manchester United up with a flat back four, abandoning Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system. Carrick’s United team has used a simple formula; play your best players in their best positions, and it has worked.
The players have freedom under Carrick, playing attacking football reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams. Nobody can forget the iconic counter-attack against Manchester City where four United players bolted forward like Red Arrows to create Bryan Mbeumo’s opening goal.
Benjamin Sesko has become a prolific forward under Carrick, benefitting the most from United’s free flowing football and positive mindset. Carrick understands the Premier League from his time as a player, and previously as a coach at United.
Coaching staff
When Michael Carrick won the Premier League Manager of the Month Award, he made a point to pose for the photo with all of his coaching staff. It reinforced that his success is a group effort, and not an individual one.
Carrick appears to have struck gold with his coaching mix. Steve Holland is a master tactician with decades of top level experience, who has instantly commanded respect from the players. Jonathan Woodgate is Carrick’s trusted assistant, who has been able to pass on his knowledge to the defence.
Travis Binnion has another key role since his promotion from the under-21s, providing a bridge between the academy and first team, while also being credited for his training ground work with Benjamin Sesko behind the scenes.
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Academy commitment
Michael Carrick created headlines by simply turning up to under-21s and under-18s games, because predecessor Ruben Amorim rarely did. Carrick is a regular attendee at academy matches, even making a 300-mile round trip to Oxford to watch the team play in the FA Youth Cup.
Carrick’s son Jacey is part of the under-16s so he has a close interest and knowledge of the academy system, while also understanding how integral it is to the Football Club. His usage of midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has demonstrated that Carrick understands the value of academy talents.
Already he has handed a debut to Tyler Fletcher. Carrick’s time as player at United has ingrained the culture of the club into him, and it is reflected in terms of how he operates.
Cultural fit with Ineos
Ruben Amorim fell out with director of football Jason Wilcox, amid battles over playing style and transfers. There are unlikely to be any fallings out with Michael Carrick at the helm.
Carrick has implemented the playing style Wilcox wanted Amorim to adopt, and he is enjoying success. During his reign so far, Carrick has drawn praise for his attention to detail. This fits in with the ‘marginal gains’ philosophy Ineos have embraced with other sports.
His interest in the academy and development of young players also works in sync with Ineos’ goals to develop young players while attaining success. His coaching staff are helping players reach new statistical highs, fitting in with the club’s investment in data and elite performance. Everything appears to be a perfect fit.
He has respect of the players
This is absolutely crucial to the success of any head coach, and we have seen Manchester United managers fail with this in the past. Michael Carrick has the total command and respect of his players.
Carrick immediately garnered respect from his time as a player at Manchester United, winning multiple trophies. He also managed some of the team’s top players like Bruno Fernandes during a three-game unbeaten run in 2021.
This set Carrick up for success, and the early results have continued to build respect. The players are clearly fully behind the project, and this is reflected in the performances. Carrick has had a difficult task of managing the squad despite having no opportunity to rotate, and there have been no issues with unhappy players, he has them all buying in.
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Fan support and connection
Michael Carrick is the popular choice to be Manchester United head coach, the overwhelming favourite among supporters.
Carrick’s success and his style of football has re-energised the fanbase. United fans have been wary of falling into the same trap we did with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019, but it feels like there is something sustainable here with Carrick.
He has blended the best part of the Solskjaer era, his connection with the fans, with fixes for the weaker aspects like tactics and substitutions. Manchester United supporters are actively looking forward to matches again, instead of dreading them.
Game management
One of the standout elements of Michael Carrick’s success has been the impact he has had during matches.
Carrick’s substitutions have had a positive impact on games, he has made bold attacking changes, and they have paid off. It is the type of approach fans want to see from a head coach.
During his first six games alone, substitutes scored four goals under Carrick. No substitute scored in a league game under Amorim all season.
The victory against Palace was a ‘come from behind win’ not reliant on substitute goals. It showed how he was able to get his players to step up a level after coming out flat, a situation previous managers have not been able to solve.
Cost and demand efficient
A controversial reason but one that is hard to ignore as a positive. Michael Carrick is a cheaper option for Manchester United than going to hire a ‘big name’ like Thomas Tuchel.
This itself is not a reason to hire Carrick, but it is a reason that supports his case along with his successful results, respect of the players, style of football, and academy buy-in. After the expensive hire-and-fire cycle of Ruben Amorim, this might make more sense for United.
The added element is that Carrick’s focus is on coaching. His first priority was to get ‘on the grass’ at Carrington to work with the players. Other external candidates may want a heavier say in recruitment.
Carrick will have a voice when it comes to recruitment, but he won’t likely be a dominating one, and this will fit the Ineos culture with Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vivell, rather than bringing in a manager who demands ‘control’ like Erik ten Hag once did.
Experienced coach fallacy
There are two elements to this point. Who exactly is the ‘big name coach’ who stands out as a viable candidate right now?
Luis Enrique is not available, while Thomas Tuchel and Carlo Ancelotti are at the World Cup, and beyond. Zinedine Zidane is an option – one who completely lacks Premier League experience and knowledge of Manchester United.
Speaking of Zidane, he is one manager who actually proved you do not need experience to succeed in winning trophies with a huge club. He did this at Real Madrid, just like Pep Guardiola once did at Barcelona.
Hansi Flick proved this at Bayern, while Vincent Kompany is currently doing the same, just like Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. A ‘big coach’ may not be required, previous tries with Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho did not prove to be the answer.
Full potential not reached
Manchester United have not seen the best of Michael Carrick as a head coach. And that is the scarily brilliant part.
What can Carrick do when he has a full pre-season behind him to work with the players?
What can Carrick do when he is actually allowed to add more players to the squad, an opportunity denied to him in the January transfer window?
Carrick’s full potential as a head coach is yet to be unlocked, we are just scratching the surface. What he has shown so far is great, but he can be even better if provided with a combination of time and backing.
Media savviness
Managing Manchester United brings a unique challenge. The media go out of their way to elicit a controversial response from a head coach, and Carrick has the level-headed ability to deadbat all those kind of questions.
Carrick’s demeanour is very level-headed. He does not get too high or too low, and brings a sense of stability to United. It is the complete opposite to Ruben Amorim, who was too emotionally immature to deal with the pressures.
Whether he was threatening to quit, saying he hated his team, or falling out with the club hierarchy in public, Amorim’s unpredictability created all the wrong type of headlines, and likely had a poor effect on team morale.
Carrick understands the club, understands the media, and is smart enough to deal with everything in his stride and not become the story. These are rare qualities for a Manchester United head coach to have.
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