LIVE
...

Follow us on

Opinion

Michael Carrick has shown key sign that his 17-match interim reign serves bigger purpose amid Man Utd links

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester United interim head coach Michael Carrick has highlighted the importance of his current Old Trafford reign after being linked with the permanent role.

Michael Carrick has only three Premier League matches left in his interim head coach reign after his stunning return to Old Trafford in January under the Ineos regime.

Ineos installed the 44-year-old Manchester United legend in the Old Trafford hot seat after Ruben Amorim was sacked from his role at the Premier League club.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos team is now facing calls to hand Carrick the keys to the kingdom at Old Trafford by appointing him as Ruben Amorim’s successor.

READ MORE: Wayne Rooney makes bold Luis Enrique and Thomas Tuchel comparison with Michael Carrick for Man Utd role

Head coach Michael Carrick speaks during a Manchester United press conference at the Carrington training complex on May 07, 2026, in Manchester, England.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images

Carrick says Top 5 isn’t enough. Honestly, based on his run, do you think we are a genuine Title Contender for next season?

Getty Images

Michael Carrick asked about the full-time Man Utd managerial role vs an interim basis and his verdict speaks volumes

Michael Carrick has spearheaded Manchester United’s return to the Champions League for the 2026-27 campaign in the post-Ruben Amorim era of the club.

The former Man Utd and England midfielder’s future at Old Trafford is now front and centre going into the remaining Premier League fixtures in the 2025-26 campaign.

Carrick was asked at his pre-match press conference how differently he would have operated at Man Utd if his appointment were permanent instead of as an interim.

“That’s a good question,” he said, as per Manchester United’s official website.

“I think I’ve said from the start, though, that I’ve never approached a day here in terms of any short-term decisions.

“Whether that’s different from the outlook of others, I don’t know, but from mine and certainly the staff, I think we’ve definitely made decisions for the longer term for the group and individually as players and how we treat them and try to help develop them, the squad.”

READ MORE: Wayne Rooney makes bold Luis Enrique and Thomas Tuchel comparison with Michael Carrick for Man Utd role

Michael Carrick has now beaten Liverpool, City, Arsenal, Villa, and Chelsea – Do you want him to be the permanent manager?

What did he get right (and wrong) vs Liverpool?

Getty Images

Michael Carrick has revealed his interim reign has been an ‘audition period’ at Man Utd without even trying

Carrick has been tipped to become the seventh permanent United manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford after his stunning impact so far.

No different from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in certain ways, Carrick’s return to the Premier League club sparked the major turnaround that United fans had hoped for.

During Thursday’s pre-match press conference, Carrick insisted that his approach as interim head coach would be no different if he were fully appointed to the role.

“So, I don’t think, really, it would change the approach for how I’ve tried to go about things,” he continued at the Carrington training complex.

“Again, I understand that it might be for other people looking towards me, maybe or towards us, whether that’s players, whether that’s supporters, whether that’s you lot sitting here.

“I don’t know how that changes, but maybe we’ll get to see, I don’t know. But certainly, from my point of view, I think I’ve done it, gone about it, in a way that I feel is the right way to do it.”

Considering how football operations are now run under Ineos, not much would be different for Carrick as Man Utd’s permanent manager in the dugout.

However, the biggest sign of all is that Carrick has been able to use his interim head coach reign to show a ‘trial’ period of what the Red Devils would like under him.