Michael Carrick addressed the Old Trafford faithful in his end-of-season speech just like Ruben Amorim did last season, but avoided one trap.
It is a great yearly tradition for the Man Utd manager to give an end-of-season speech at Old Trafford after the last game of the season.
The tradition was kept alive by Michael Carrick despite no official confirmation of his status beyond this season.
While doing so, he separated himself from Ruben Amorim by avoiding one trap that made the latter stand out, for all the wrong reasons in the end.
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Michael Carrick separates himself from Ruben Amorim
Separating himself from Amorim has been a key theme of Carrick’s time in charge, be it in his tactical choices on the pitch or his conduct off it.
The same continued even during the speech, which is one of the areas where Amorim truly shone.
Last season, Amorim had the thankless task of rousing the Man Utd fans after a campaign that saw the Europa League slip in the final, finishing 15th in the league.
He did so with gusto, perhaps a little too much of it, as he promised the fans that the “good days are coming”.
Needless to say, a defeat to Grimsby and a loss at home against ten-man Everton is not expected during the good days, so his promise rang hollow by the end.
In sharp contrast, Carrick didn’t promise anything for the future. Instead, he came out, let the results speak for themselves, honoured departing members of the squad, and walked off after achieving this season’s objective.
If Amorim was all talk and no action, Carrick is the exact opposite, because he said a few words with no tall promises, but he didn’t need to, because his actions already spoke for him.
Carrick is avoiding the Amorim trap of extremes
At a club like Man Utd, where you are only as good or bad as your last game, it is important to stay balanced mentally.
What position would Man Utd be in NOW if Ruben Amorim was still head coach?
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You can’t be too high when you win, or get too low when you don’t, and that’s the job of the manager to ensure it happens.
Instead, in Amorim, United had a manager who would smash TVs after a loss and call his side the worst in history, or challenge journalists to keep coming at him after winning back-to-back games for the first time.
The “good days are coming” promise stems from the same emotional corner of his mind, where he crumbled under his own words this season.
Carrick isn’t making lofty promises. He is just ensuring that the players treat the next game as the most important one, while leaving the noise to the outside.
The result is a more confident and calm group of players who don’t have their own manager feeding the frenzy around the club, good or bad.
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