Manchester United’s short-term head coach has spoken to the man he pipped to the job.
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Michael Carrick was part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s staff (Glyn Kirk/PA)open image in gallery
Michael Carrick was part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s staff (Glyn Kirk/PA) (PA Archive)
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Michael Carrick has spoken to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since beating him to the Manchester United job and says the club’s former manager is there if he ever needs any advice.
Ruben Amorim’s sacking after 14 patchy, and increasingly acrimonious, months in charge led the Red Devils to hastily search for a new head coach for the remainder of the season.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was interviewed but 1999 treble hero Solskjaer and former captain Carrick were always considered the front-runners.
The 44-year-old Carrick began his reign with an impressive 2-0 derby win over Manchester City and has spoken to the affable Norwegian as attention turns to Sunday’s trip to table-topping Arsenal.
“Yeah, I spoke to him,” Carrick said. “I’m close, we’ve been through a lot together, so he’s been fully supportive as you’d expect.
“He’s some man and I respect him an awful lot, so, yeah, he wished us all the best and he was happy that we got the right result.”
Asked whether he would pick Solskjaer’s brains, the United boss said: “I think friendships, you have conversations.
“I’ve got a lot of friends in places that I can kind of pick on if I need to be. I’m not one that bothers a lot of people, to be honest, but he’s certainly there if ever I need him.”
Solskjaer is sure to be watching when United attempt to build on their perfect start to life under Carrick away to Arsenal, where the Red Devils have lost on their last four Premier League visits.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners saw their advantage at the top cut to four points by City’s 2-0 win against Wolves, with the impressive Gunners set to prove a stern test after United’s derby triumph.
“Every game’s different,” Carrick said. “There’s an element of that. It’s never the same.
“Even if you come in half-time and you’ve had a good performance for 45 minutes, I’m never one that likes to say ‘same again’ because it’s never, ever the same again.
“You’ve kind of got to build on it, so it won’t be kind of copy and paste. I think there’s new elements that need to come into it.
“We need to be ready, we need to be at our best. And if we are our best and we’re there, we feel we’ve got a good chance.”
United head to north London fresh from confirming Casemiro will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The 33-year-old’s exit was widely expected, as is the Red Devils’ plan to reinforce their midfield this summer – something Carrick is well placed and ready to help with.
“I’m certainly in this position to do that,” the former United midfielder said. “I think making decisions for the club moving forward, whatever that may be, I’m fully committed to that.
“Naturally, as a midfielder then there’s a big tendency towards that anyway.
“But taking that away from it and now being where I am in the position I am, certainly it would be part of those conversations moving forward.
“It’s important we get the next steps right in terms of moving forward as a team and as a squad and putting the right things in place. So, yeah, I’ll be part of that in the right way.”