Michael Carrick is the latest man to try to run the gauntlet of being a Manchester United manager, but he will at least not have the complaint Ruben Amorim constantly had last season.
Ruben Amorim had a lot of things to complain about during his time at Man Utd, which ultimately boiled over to his breakdown in his relationship with Ineos.
However, even when his relationship with the board was at its peak, he complained about one thing constantly.
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Michael Carrick will have the opposite of that complaint from day one. In fact, he might wish he were in Amorim’s position to an extent!
Head Coach Ruben Amorim of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground on December 18, 2025
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Ruben Amorim complained about the lack of training time
When Amorim arrived in November 2024, the international break was underway. As it turns out, it was the quietest period for United under his watch.
That is because, as soon as club football resumed, United had a game almost every three days due to Europa League commitments.
Add the Carabao Cup and FA Cup games, and Amorim spoke like a person who couldn’t wait for the season to end so he could start imparting his principles on the training pitch.
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He was constantly complaining about needing to manage injuries due to minutes overload for his players, and not having the time to train.
Amorim promised that the team would get better if he had more time on the training pitch with them instead of being constantly stuck in a cycle of match preparation-recovery-match prep.
The tales of a famed “Ruben Amorim pre-season” were told with gusto, and while it didn’t exactly transpire that way, it’s hard to argue that Amorim walked into a thankless situation.
Carrick has the opposite of that problem.
Michael Carrick would wish he had more games
It sums up United’s predicament that they needed more time to train for a long-term project when they didn’t have any, and they want more games for financial reasons at a time when they are eliminated from every competition.
How many games will Michael Carrick win?
Also let us know how many you think he NEEDS to win to qualify for the Champions League… and to become full-time manager?
How many games will Michael Carrick win?
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Carrick has just 17 games to save United’s season, which means qualifying for the Champions League via the league.
In sharp contrast to Amorim, he will get basically a week to prepare for every game, and he needs to approach this with the mindset of having 17 cup finals in front of him.
He would undoubtedly wish he had more games to manage, since a deep cup run could have lifted the mood around Old Trafford.
He won’t have an issue with a lack of training time as Amorim did. In fact, he would have an issue with not having enough games to make a mark at the club.
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