Real thoughts on Michael Carrick after Sir Alex Ferguson’s fury | Soccer | Sports

Despite his brilliant career at Manchester United, Michael Carrick was not immune to Sir Alex Ferguson’s infamous ‘hairdryer treatment’. The 44-year-old, who has agreed to take on the role of caretaker manager until the summer, has enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at the club, winning accolades including five Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League.

Carrick seamlessly filled the hole left in United’s midfield by Roy Keane, playing a vital but often underestimated role in maintaining balance and dictating play. But there was one time when he took advantage of Ferguson’s anger. The incident occurred during the 2008 Club World Cup final against Ecuador in Liga de Quito.

Despite claiming that Carrick was playing a forward pass, Ferguson vehemently disagreed and expressed his displeasure during the half-time break.

In his 2018 autobiography Between the Lines, Carrick recalled: “As soon as I walked into the changing room, the boss lunged at me and said, ‘Pass the ball forward, damn it.’ Sir Alex was furious.”

“When he did that, I had to sit there and take it and let him blow off some steam. On the surface, I was calm, nodding to my boss’s points and hiding my anger.”

“Inside I was frustrated, saying to myself, “I must have made 40 passes here before, and he picked the one that I returned.” But the manager was so devastated that I didn’t dare to speak up in his defence.”

Following their victory in the Champions League, United qualified for the Club World Cup in Yokohama and secured the silver medal with a narrow 1-0 victory.

Wayne Rooney scored a vital goal and the Red Devils achieved the feat despite being reduced to 10 men after Nemanja Vidic was sent off.

It was perhaps an unusual sight for Ferguson to lose his cool against Carrick, given the midfielder’s extraordinary reliability, with the legendary Scottish manager overseeing 319 of his 464 games for the club.

Ferguson, who was signed from Tottenham Hotspur in 2006, quickly became convinced that Carrick would flourish at Old Trafford.

“One of the things that struck me as we were looking at his profile and preparing to make a bid was that he left home to play for West Ham as a 16-year-old boy,” Ferguson recalled.

“It shows that the boy had the confidence that he was going to succeed. A 16-year-old boy going from Newcastle to East London, it was a tough journey and I was impressed.

“From the moment we acquired Michael in 2006, his personality has always stood out. He is a football man and his personality and his abilities gave us confidence that he would be a huge success at United.”

After retiring in 2018, Carrick took up a coaching role at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho and continued with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

However, Carrick left Old Trafford following the arrival of Ralph Rangnick and was subsequently appointed manager of Middlesbrough in October 2022, a role he held until the end of the season.