Michael Carrick has scrapped many rules from the Ruben Amorim era at Manchester United and made tweaks to training ground and matchdays that have led to success.
Michael Carrick has made a great start to life at Manchester United (Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Michael Carrick has made a huge impact at Manchester United since stepping into the void created by Ruben Amorim’s departure. And he did not hesitate to break with the work of his predecessors. United leaders sacked Amorim on January 5 following a provocative press conference, and eight days later turned their attention to Carrick in favor of Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
The former midfielder has completely changed the atmosphere at the club, winning four and drawing one in the five games he has played in charge in the Premier League. A win against Everton on Monday night would put United in fourth place, two points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, and put them in a good position to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Carrick quickly ditched Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation in favor of a simpler 4-2-3-1, and also brought back Koby Mainu, who had defected under the previous manager. United continued to perform well at both ends of the pitch, defeating Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham, and drawing with West Ham.
The 44-year-old has put his name in for a permanent slot in the summer, with chief executive Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe set to be consulted on his departure. If Carrick can keep winning and keep everyone happy, there’s a good chance he’ll secure the job, and part of his success is due to encouraging change.
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Carrick stuck to his principles on the coaching pitch and changed the approach from Amorim’s coaching staff. The Daily Mail reports that he also used his experience as a player to make four logistical tweaks to make the plan better.
He quickly shortened his training sessions and increased their intensity. It immediately had the desired effect, with Wayne Rooney reporting that Carrick decided to stop training early ahead of January’s 3-2 win against Arsenal because the quality of training had been so high that he did not want to taint it by continuing.
“He wanted to bottle it up and give them that performance the next day,” Rooney told Match of the Day at the time. The efforts on the practice field, led by Carrick and his assistant Steve Holland, have greatly impressed the players.
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Influenced by Michael Carrick and assistant Steve Holland (Image: James Gill – Danehouse, Getty Images)
Carrick has also tweaked his match-day approach, asking players to arrive by 3pm for both home and away games. Players will now arrive at Old Trafford and their opponents’ grounds one hour and 45 minutes before kick-off.
Another major difference with Amorim is that Carrick prefers to speak to his players immediately after a match to give feedback. This worked because the interim boss was seen as down-to-earth and approachable, rather than aloof like Amorim.
We have also introduced compulsory leave immediately after matches. The move is particularly popular with players who can spend more time with visiting families.
Harry Maguire recently outlined the improvements Carrick has brought to the team. “There’s more urgency, not only from the defenders but also the midfielders and wide men coming back and the strikers defending the edge of the box,” he told TNT Sports. “It’s very important that we do that as a team, we have to make sure we have good space and are compact all over the pitch. Michael will bring that.”
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