Michael Carrick will take charge of his third Premier League game as a manager when Man Utd face Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick will take charge of his third Premier League game as a manager this weekend(Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)
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Michael Carrick wasn't your typical English holding midfielder. A classy, controlling passer, for a while he was considered England's answer to Pep Guardiola. Nine years ago, Guardiola himself called Carrick "one of the best holding midfielders I've ever seen in my life".
How far do the comparisons go? If Carrick was the English answer to Guardiola in midfield, could he also be the English answer to Guardiola in the dugout? It's not exactly a perfect comparison, admittedly. The current Manchester City manager never had a three-season spell in the Spanish second tier that ended with shrugs of shoulders all round.
But there has often been a sense around Carrick that he has the talent to make a success of a managerial career, never more so than the early months at the Riverside when he supercharged a play-off push after inheriting a team shaping up for a relegation battle. Coming on the back of a three-game spell as a caretaker at Old Trafford that produced wins against Villarreal and Arsenal, and a draw with Chelsea, it hinted at promise.
The momentum has stalled since then, and it looked like Carrick was considering whether he wanted to continue pursuing a career in management, but when the club that shaped his career came calling last week, he couldn't say no.
On Saturday lunchtime, he will walk out of the Old Trafford dugout and take charge of his third Premier League game as a manager. Next to him will be Guardiola, his stylistic equal as a player but a coach who has now amassed more than 1,000 games as a boss, almost all of it at the very elite level
The contrast in experience is stark, and although Carrick, 44, ticked the box as a former United great, his CV and lack of experience weren't necessarily deserving of a 17-game spell in charge at Old Trafford, but he insists he feels ready for the challenge ahead.
"I've never really thought about it like that," he said. "I just feel comfortable, I feel at home. Not comfortable in the fact that it's nice and everything's great, it's comfortable in the fact that I'm happy in my skin, happy in this role.
"I know what it takes, I worked closely with Jose [Mourinho] and Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] for some time, so when I took over it felt quite a natural step. I understand the questions and that's how it is, you always question until you've achieved something. All I can say is I feel at home, I feel I'm ready and I'm really looking forward to getting to work."
Carrick has taken over a squad visibly lacking in confidence and a team sitting seventh in the Premier League, with just one win in seven from a forgiving schedule. He stressed his arrival would act as a "fresh start", but games against City and Arsenal in his first two fixtures are a daunting beginning. Despite that, he believes the culture around the training ground and the attitude of the players has encouraged him this week.
"I've been back in this role for three days, and there's nothing that I've looked at that's really red-flagged anything," he said. "The players have been really good, willing to listen, willing to learn, wanting to do better, wanting to do better for the club, wanting to put in better performances.
"The culture is something that happens day to day, it's not something I sit here and talk about and a few words here and there and it makes it sound good, it's how you behave and what you end up doing day to day.
"That's something we've got to build, but certainly at the moment I feel it's a good place and the training ground has been a really good place and we need to make Old Trafford tomorrow an even better place with the help of the supporters as well and that's the magic of what we're trying to do."