Michael Carrick is currently in the midst of preparations for his first full season as Manchester United manager, reuniting with another former Red Devils manager.
Michael Carrick was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s assistant at Old Trafford (Image: Getty Images)
Michael Carrick reunited with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in Norway this week, just months after beating him to win the manager’s job at Old Trafford. The Premier League team has been in Norway for the past few days as part of their pre-season preparations.
The Red Devils won 5-0 against Rosenborg on Friday, with Shea Lacey, Joshua Zirkzee, Jacob Devaney, Harry Amas and Ethan Williams all finding the net.
United manager Carrick had more on his mind than the match against Norway. According to the Manchester Evening News, he has met with former head coach Solskjaer.
The pair are thought to be closely linked despite Carrick beating the former forward for the top job at Old Trafford last season. It has been suggested that Solskjær is in talks to take over a second stint.
However, the Red Devils’ bosses chose Carrick instead, giving him the job on a permanent basis after winning 12 of 17 games. It was a good enough result for United to qualify for the Champions League.
Carrick and Solskjaer’s reunion comes after he admitted he had sought advice from the Norwegian before officially taking the reins at Old Trafford.
Earlier this year, he said: “Yeah, yeah, I talked to him. We’re good friends and we’ve been through a lot together. As you can imagine, he’s been totally supportive. He’s a great guy, I have a lot of respect for him. He wished us luck and was happy that we got the right result.
“I think friendship is something you can have a conversation with…I have a lot of friends in places that I can woo if I need to. To be honest, I’m not a person who bothers a lot of people, but…he’s definitely there when I need him.”
Speaking after United’s strong win against Rosenborg, Carrick said: “What we really want at this stage is to score a goal without conceding and obviously everyone gets through it without injury.
Michael Carrick meets manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his time at United in Norway (Image: Getty Images)
“We want everything to improve and our performance to always improve, but I think it’s most important to keep our players healthy and move forward with the preseason.
“So, with two games and two weeks left, I think we can maintain where we are and I’m pretty happy. In the second half, we had some young players coming in and I thought they were great. They played really well as a team and deserved what they got in the second half.”
He added: “It’s important to build through this pre-season. Some players will need more minutes than others as the games go on and we’re managing some players a little more than others. As I said before the game, it’s never going to be perfect. It’s been two weeks and we’re building towards that.”
“So I thought there were a lot of positives. Some of the goals were great goals and I’m just as happy to get a clean sheet. So, yeah, we’re making good progress.”
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