Michael Carrick's last managerial stint was at Middlesbrough - here is the inside story of the Manchester United boss' time at the Riverside Stadium.
Carrick was confirmed as head coach on Wednesday.(Image: Manchester United)
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Michael Carrick spent just under a year out of the game after his stint as Manchester United caretaker, taking over at Middlesbrough for his first full-time managerial role. Carrick made an immediate impact, impressing Boro fans with a progressive style of play and guiding the club into the play-offs.
Carrick took the job with Middlesbrough in a Championship relegation battle, but they ended the season by having a crack at promotion to the Premier League, with Carrick winning 16 of his first 23 league games.
It began to unravel for Carrick in his second year in charge at the Riverside Stadium. The former United midfielder oversaw an eighth-placed finish, missing out on the play-offs, and there was regression in his third campaign, which resulted in a disappointing 10th-placed finish.
Carrick was backed in the transfer market in the summer of 2024 but failed to meet expectations, which ultimately led to his dismissal. Carrick had been out of work since his departure from Middlesbrough, but now has the chance to manage the club that he represented for 464 games as a player.
United announced Carrick's appointment as head coach on Tuesday. He will be supported by a backroom staff of Steve Holland, Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans and Travis Binnion.
Carrick was undefeated in three games as United caretaker in 2021/22, and he had the confidence to drop Cristiano Ronaldo, but there is a larger body of evidence from his time at Middlesbrough to provide meaningful insight into what to expect from him as interim for the remainder of the campaign.
Dominic Shaw, sports reporter at The Northern Echo, covered Carrick's stint at Middlesbrough. "I think there has to be an element of surprise considering he ultimately failed to get Middlesbrough promoted," he said.
"But the appointment also feels understandable at the same time, given the position United are in and Carrick's association with the club.
"What will be interesting is what happens if Carrick can repeat at Old Trafford the immediate impact he had at Middlesbrough. His appointment was initially transformational at Boro and his side should, in truth, have won promotion in that first season. That was the high point of his time on Teesside.
"In his last season, Aaron Danks seemed to be a big miss after his departure to join Vincent Kompany's staff at Bayern Munich. With that in mind, the Steve Holland appointment feels wise."
Carrick celebrates a win in February 2023.(Image: 2023 Getty Images)
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Shaw described Carrick's tenure at Middlesbrough as mixed. "As mentioned above, Boro were brilliant for large spells of his first season after he took charge in October 2022," he explained.
"For a spell in the second half of the season they were the best team in the Championship, but they came up short in their bid to catch the top two and then lost in the play-offs.
"That resulted in an exodus of star players and loanees, so the following campaign was very much a season of transition, though Boro still reached the last four of the Carabao Cup.
"Last season was a disappointment. The aim was promotion, but Boro underachieved and came up well short, finishing 10th. After a long review at the end of the season, Boro officials decided it was time for change. Most Boro fans agreed."
So what went wrong? Carrick was accused of stubbornness and his plan became stale. "In his first season, the football on offer was as good as Boro fans have seen in a long time," Shaw said.
"But come last year, Boro were too often predictable and ponderous in attack, and at the other end they gave away a string of shambolic goals. Their game-management - or lack of it - let them down again and again and they threw away countless points from position of dominance in games. One criticism that Carrick didn't like but was fair was that his side was soft-centred. It lacked steel and leadership."
Michael Carrick
Carrick during his first training session as head coach.(Image: )
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Carrick operated with 4-2-3-1 at Middlesbrough and is expected to use that formation at United. "Carrick craves control. His Boro side were always possession-based and his preference was a 4-2-3-1 shape," Shaw said.
"He did move to a back three and wing-backs on a couple of occasions, but it was always clear it was a short-term fix. He wants his goalkeeper and defenders to play out from the back and talked often about the need for his forward players to be 'fluid'.
"At Boro, he also had huge success in transforming Chuba Akpom into a No.10. Akpom had been signed as a striker but had flopped on Teesside until Carrick moved him into a deeper attacking role, a position he'd never previously played. Akpom was the Championship's Player of the Year in 2022/23 and earned a move to Ajax.
"He said Carrick was 'the manager he'd been dreaming of his whole career'. Carrick played down his role, saying he'd just followed his instinct after watching Akpom in training."
Ruben Amorim was box office during press conferences, sometimes critical of his own players, but Shaw warned that Carrick's appearances with the media will be business-like for the remainder of the season.
"Don't expect any repeats of the explosive Ruben Amorim press conferences," he said. "Carrick is always extremely measured and reluctant to give too much away. He's fiercely defensive of his players. Never once did he stray close to criticising his players, or club officials for that matter."
Shaw added: "Boro made a huge profit on a number of players during Carrick's time in charge. Morgan Rogers signed for £1m and left in a deal worth £16m. Emmanuel Latte Lath signed for £4m and left for north of £20m. That's obviously testament to Boro's recruitment work, but also Carrick's coaching.
"He made mistakes at Boro but that was to be expected - it was his first role as a permanent head coach. Now we'll see whether he's learned from them."