An ex-Manchester United player has told Michael Carrick his first priority at Manchester United following Ruben Amorim's dismissal
Head Coach Michael Carrick of Manchester United poses at Carrington Training Ground on January 13, 2026 in Manchester, England.
Michael Carrick is the new Manchester United manager until the end of the season(Image: Ash Donelon, Manchester United via Getty Images)
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Rio Ferdinand has told Michael Carrick his first aim as Manchester United's new manager should be to rebuild his players' confidence.
Carrick was announced as the club's interim manager on Tuesday, stepping in following the sacking of Ruben Amorim last week. The former United midfielder, who enjoyed a short undefeated run as caretaker boss in 2021, will lead the team until the end of the season, after being let go from Middlesbrough seven months ago.
He faces a tough mission to secure Champions League qualification for United, who currently sit seventh in the Premier League table, just one point shy of fifth place. Despite Amorim steering them to a more respectable position compared to the previous season, it had still been a gruelling campaign leading up to his departure.
United have struggled defensively, conceding fewer goals than only the bottom six teams, leading to inconsistent results. Perhaps most crucially, by the end of Amorim's 14-month tenure, the players were noticeably playing within themselves, an issue that club legend Ferdinand believes Carrick needs to tackle immediately.
The former defender suggests that Carrick should aim to boost morale by first securing positive results, possibly adopting a more defensive and less expansive style of play initially.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, he said: “I think he’s got to instil confidence back into this team. I think it doesn’t matter what players you’ve got or how good they are, they’ll never give the best version of themselves if they’re lacking confidence.
Rio Ferdinand speaks on Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast
Rio Ferdinand says Carrick must restore the players' confidence(Image: Rio Ferdinand Presents)
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“To do that, there’s things he’s going to have to do behind the scenes to bring them together and to make them start believing in themselves through training and creating patterns. But then it’s down to results.
“They’ve got to find a way of getting results. If that, for the moment, is playing a different style of football that suits this group, perhaps more counter-attacking to build confidence… Then you can start moulding the team in time into a new shape and the way you want it to be.”
He continued: “Without the confidence right now it will be really difficult, almost impossible, to build any momentum with this team and get us into a respectable position at the end of the season.”
Carrick, who won five Premier League titles and one Champions League trophy with United, understands what a confident and united dressing room looks like, having experienced it directly under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.
Carrick will now prepare the squad for two challenging fixtures, starting with Manchester City's visit this weekend. He's expected to move away from the controversial 3-4-3 system introduced by Amorim, both in that match and against league leaders Arsenal the following weekend.