Michael Carrick has been appointed interim head coach until the end of the season at Man Utd but he has a job on his hands to turn the club's fortunes around.
Michael Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Michael Carrick has beaten Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to the interim head coach job at Manchester United(Image: )
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11 weeks ago, Michael Carrick thought it had clicked. He sat in the Match of the Day studio, a beaming smile on his face, and talked about the connections that were starting to develop in the Manchester United team. He could see players who were enjoying their football again and a team that had "a sense of fun". He was having fun watching them.
Life comes at you fast around these parts. Carrick will swap the casual sweater and the lapel mic for a suit and a tactics board this weekend when he leads United out against Manchester City at Old Trafford. The smiles have long gone and he will encounter frowns and grimaces when he greets the players at Carrington on Wednesday.
Carrick's effusive assessment of a United performance on Match of the Day came after the 4-2 win against Brighton. It was a third straight win and one of the best Premier League performances under Ruben Amorim. It felt like the Amorim era was finally going somewhere.
As it turned out, it was another dead end. Only three of the next 11 games were won before Amorim pressed for the ejector button in spectacular fashion. Now Carrick has to pick up the pieces in a campaign he thought was well on track not so long ago.
Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox have conducted a tour of United's old boys over the past week and have faced criticism for doing so. They have been lambasted for not having a plan after sacking Amorim. However, there is a reason for this, and that is nobody expected Amorim to explode in the manner he did and as quickly as he did.
Tensions came to a head at astonishing speed and within a matter of days the Portuguese went from retaining the support of the United hierarchy to seeing his position become untenable. Even for the soap opera of the modern-day United, it was a whirlwind.
In the circumstances, this is probably as good a move as Berrada and Wilcox could have made. They resisted the temptation to get too sepia with the return of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, instead opting for the sensible route with a coach whose best years are ahead of him.
It's not easy to see where Solskjaer's next job comes from if it wasn't answering a distress call at Old Trafford. For Carrick, 44, there is still the promise of a bright coaching career ahead. If this stint goes well for him, then there is every chance a Premier League job is on offer next season, even if it isn't at Old Trafford.
He also fits more smoothly into a new structure at United. Solskjaer was more of a manager during his three years in charge, while Carrick is more of a coach, although there is a question as to how much this job is actually going to be about coaching. These players will relish returning to a simpler system after 14 months of looking lost under Amorim.
Carrick will opt for a shape they all know and understand, and while he has more time on the training ground than most - too much, probably - it is unlikely he is going to seek to introduce complicated pressing structures or patterns of play to them. Ralf Rangnick tried that, after all.
What is needed is a motivator who can pick the players up after a dismal run of form and a dramatic few weeks that have visibly stripped the group of confidence and belief. Heads have dropped and there aren't enough leaders on the pitch dragging them forward.
Carrick can do that, as can his experienced assistant Steve Holland, who was a driving force behind the throne for England when working with Gareth Southgate. Whether they can deliver Carrick's possession-heavy template in what is left of the season remains to be seen.
He might only have spent 10 days in charge as caretaker in 2021, but he delivered an upturn in results and United players liked the cut of his jib. His training was bright, and he earned credit for the way he stabilised a team that had just conceded four goals to Watford.
Wins against Villarreal and Arsenal were impressive and Carrick's United were good value for a point at Stamford Bridge. It might only be three games, but he has earned a shot at the job ahead of Solskjaer.
He might also be looking forward to an easier assignment or two. His first game in charge was a Champions League tie in Spain and his first four Premier League games will now be against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Arsenal. If he is still unbeaten in two weeks' time, then Berrada and Wilcox will know for sure they have the right man.