Michael Carrick has recently come under pressure for not being flexible enough, but one change is already underway at Man Utd.
The noise around Michael Carrick and his future at Man Utd seems to shift from game to game, depending on the most recent result.
Therefore, all he can do is just do his best and improve where he finds himself lacking, on or off the pitch.
He seems to have already taken one piece of feedback on board, because there’s a long-overdue, subtle change in how he approaches press conferences now.
Michael Carrick manager / head coach of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Manchester United at Vitality Stadium on March 20, 2026
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
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Michael Carrick’s dark arts in press conferences
Carrick was a breath of fresh air at Old Trafford due to his ability to diffuse any pressure situation with calmness and control.
He didn’t give the media anything, whether after a win or a loss, and it stood in stark contrast to sessions of self-flagellation under Ruben Amorim.
However, there is a fine line between talking a lot but saying nothing, which Carrick did, and not even managing to set the agenda.
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Carrick seems to have found a perfect balance between the two if his recent press conferences are any indication.
After being on the end of two horrendous refereeing decisions in consecutive games – Harry Maguire sending off and Lisandro Martinez red card – Carrick has come out fighting.
He called out the referees after both games, and he’s now taken it a step further by introducing dark arts into the situation.
In a recent press conference, Carrick insinuated that there is a conspiracy against United because the club always seems to be on the receiving end of poor decisions.
He said: “I don’t think we’ve been on the right side of some of the decisions. Decisions can be made in the moment, and you get that, some are right or wrong. I think that’s the backup of VAR, which we hope would get a lot right. We don’t feel that we’ve been on the right end of that.”
Carrick’s pressure tactic is long overdue
It’s a cynical view to take that conspiracies need to be insinuated to put pressure on the referees, but United’s reality is that it’s long overdue.
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For far too long, it seems very easy to give decisions against United because the rivals celebrate it, and United rarely question it publicly.
Amorim was particularly guilty of never talking about the referees, for which his ethics can be lauded, but it gave United a reputation.
If everyone is fighting dirty, because most managers are happy to throw the limelight on referees, then United not doing so puts them at a disadvantage.
Carrick is finally putting it right, because referees are humans, and next time a marginal call needs to be decided during a game, they will have in the back of their minds that United are feeling publicly wronged.
The chances of that call then going in United’s favour so as not to fan the flames further will be higher.
It sounds conspiratorial and cynical, but the referees have endorsed this behaviour subconsciously by taking United for a ride just because the club rarely complained.
Carrick is fixing that by subtly calling out this pattern publicly.
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