A no-fuss, loyal, safe option: How Man United chose Carrick as head coach
It was a breakfast meeting involving Sir Alex Ferguson, Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada, two days after the dismissal of Ruben Amorim, that set the course for former Man United star Michael Carrick to return to Manchester United as their new head coach, which was confirmed Tuesday night. The task ahead of him? Steering the team to stability, and some kind of success, between now and the end of the season.
United director of football Wilcox and CEO Berrada called time on Amorim’s 14-month reign in charge of the team — his 38.1% win rate was, by some distance, the worst of any United manager during the Premier League era — on Jan. 5, a day after drawing 1-1 at Leeds United. Having installed under-18 coach and former player Darren Fletcher as interim coach for a two-game period, the two men needed to identify a more experienced candidate to take charge until the summer, ultimately settling on Carrick, who won every major honor, including five Premier Leagues and a Champions League title, during a 12-year, 464-game playing career at United.
Carrick, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy, all of whom had previously enjoyed brief spells as United’s interim coach, were shortlisted to return by Wilcox and Berrada, but despite minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe ending Ferguson’s £2 million-a-year ambassador role at Old Trafford in October 2024, the club’s most successful manager was invited into the training ground to give his verdict on the manager search.
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“Omar and Jason spoke to Sir Alex,” a source with knowledge of the meeting told ESPN. “They met over breakfast to discuss three guys who had all played under him in the past. Some might criticize that, so you can’t win. But Sir Alex knows Michael, Ole and Ruud better than anyone, so Omar and Jason canvassed his opinion.”
While United sources have declined to say whether Ferguson directly anointed Carrick as his favored choice — the last time he had such direct input, with “the Chosen One,” David Moyes, it ended in ignominy after just 10 months and 51 games — a source outside the club has told ESPN that the 84-year-old was wholly positive about his former midfielder and fully supports his appointment.
Club sources told ESPN that Wilcox made first contact with Carrick, Solskjaer and Van Nistelrooy this past Tuesday, 24 hours after terminating Amorim’s contract, and that all three men were spoken to at length about their plans to resurrect the team’s season. Carrick and Solskjaer met Wilcox and Berrada in face-to-face meetings while Van Nistelrooy held discussions via video meeting; one source familiar with the process telling ESPN that was because the former Netherlands forward already had a preexisting relationship with Wilcox and Berrada, having initially worked as a coach under Erik ten Hag before taking charge of the team for four games following Ten Hag’s dismissal in October 2024.
Despite having half a season to play and with United still aiming for European qualification through a top-4 finish in the Premier League, Wilcox and Berrada opted for an interim appointment until the end of the season to allow time to recruit a permanent coach in the summer.
‘Someone who knew and understood the club’
The decision to turn to a former United player and coach was rooted in wanting to, according to a source, “bring in someone who knew and understood the club to reduce the risk of a period of adaptation.” Sources connected to the search said that all three candidates impressed Berrada and Wilcox, but Carrick ultimately emerged as the unanimous choice.
“They all presented very well, all good guys, but Michael stood out,” a United source said. “He is a smart young coach, he isn’t overawed by the club, and it was felt that he has the right leadership, authority and adaptability to do the job.”
Carrick’s more hands-on approach to coaching also played in his favor: the 41-year-old shared coaching duties with Kieran McKenna, now Ipswich manager, during his time as Solskjaer’s assistant at United from 2018-2021. During that span, Carrick’s personality and presence also made him a popular and respected figure among the playing squad. But sources have said it was a close-run contest between Carrick and Solskjaer in particular, with Solskjaer being given the news on Tuesday that he had missed out on a return to the club having managed the team for three seasons following Jose Mourinho’s departure in December 2018.
“Ole took the news like a gentleman,” a United source said. “Jason spoke to both Ole and Ruud on Tuesday morning. All three guys on the list are great guys, but in the end, the club just preferred Michael.”
Carrick, who has spent time on the golf course and working as a TV analyst since leaving his post as manager of EFL Championship side Middlesbrough at the end of the 2024-25 season, will take charge of training for the first time on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford. The former England midfielder will be assisted by coaches Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans, Travis Binnion and Steve Holland, who worked as Gareth Southgate’s number two with England between 2016 and 2024.
Holland was hired by United after Carrick and Wilcox discussed the need for a coach with experience of working at the highest level. The 55-year-old is known to be demanding and abrasive — one source said he can be “cold and aloof” — but Southgate regarded Holland as a crucial element of his reign as England manager.
“Gareth was the long-term guy, somebody who the players could identify with, but Steve was the tougher figure,” a source close to Southgate told ESPN. “Steve spent a long time at Chelsea, working with Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte, and he has a hard edge because of that. He made Gareth realize that you have to win today as well as plan for tomorrow.”
While neither Carrick nor Wilcox have worked with Holland previously, a United source said that the club’s England players were “delighted” when told of his addition to the coaching staff. But while United have overhauled their coaching team, the responsibility for results will fall on Carrick’s shoulders.
Despite an outward appearance for being quiet and understated, Carrick has a tough streak, and he has shown it in the past at United. During his three-game stint as interim coach following Solskjaer’s dismissal in 2021, Carrick was bold enough to drop both Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo from the team.
Fernandes was dropped for a Champions League game against Villarreal in Carrick’s first game in charge — a 2-0 win — and Ronaldo was demoted to the substitutes’ bench for a 1-1 draw at Chelsea. Carrick’s third game was a 3-2 Old Trafford win against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, and although incoming interim manager Ralf Rangnick wanted him to remain on the staff, Carrick rejected the offer, a source familiar with these conversations said, out of loyalty to Solskjaer.
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There is little fuss with Carrick. When he signed for United as a player from Tottenham in summer 2006, six months after legendary captain Roy Keane’s acrimonious departure, he readily accepted the challenge of taking Keane’s number 16 shirt when other players might shy away from the pressure. And during Louis van Gaal’s two-year reign as manager between 2014-16, Carrick and Wayne Rooney met with the former Ajax and Barcelona coach to relay squad concerns about his overbearing style of management and repetitive training methods.
“The players had had enough of Van Gaal’s tactics, so Michael and Wayne told him to ease off and give them more freedom,” a source with knowledge of that meeting said. “Van Gaal listened and respected them for fronting him up, but while he relented briefly, it didn’t last long.”
But by dropping Fernandes and Ronaldo and then confronting Van Gaal, Carrick displayed his steely side, and it was one that he will need to show if he is to revive United and guide the team to Champions League qualification.
If he succeeds, supporters and pundits might clamor for Carrick to be given the job on a permanent basis, but no promises have been made. However, the task in front of him is daunting. United have won just one of their past seven games in all competitions and his first two fixtures are City at home and Arsenal away.
For somebody who once confessed to being a car obsessive, admitting that he would swap his football career for that of a Formula One driver, Carrick might believe he has been given the keys to a Ferrari after taking the United job.
Right now, the tires are flat and the wrong oil is in the engine, but Carrick is in the driver’s seat now, and he has four months to get everything in working order and finally heading in the right direction.