Michael Carrick was put in charge for the remainder of the season following the end of Ruben Amorim’s 14-month reign.
Michael Carrick insists there is still “magic around” Manchester United as the new head coach dismissed the suggestion he has returned to a club stuck in the mud.
The former Red Devils captain was put in charge for the remainder of the season after Darren Fletcher had initially stepped in as caretaker following the end of Ruben Amorim’s 14-month reign.
Carrick returns to a club he spent 15 years with as player and then coach, making 464 appearances before transitioning into a staff role that ended with him walking away in December 2021 after an undefeated three-match spell as caretaker boss.
There have been plenty of lows, along with the odd high, in the four years he was away from Old Trafford, leading to a growing sense of disquiet within the fanbase and a feeling that the club has not progressed.
Carrick returns to a club he spent 15 years with as player and then coach. Credit: PA Images
“I think there’s a magic around this place," Carrick said. "I feel it. I feel at home straightaway, coming into the building, coming in and around it.
“I’ve obviously been around it for quite some time and then missed a little window, but I think there’s a magic around this place. You can’t help but feel that.
“Yeah, results and sometimes from the outside things look a little bit different but it certainly doesn’t feel majorly different on the inside, I have to say that.
“Listen, part of my role and responsibility is shaping what we want to look like going forward as a group.
“What happens on the pitch, the tactical side and the performances is one thing but certainly the culture as well and how we think, how we act, how we behave, what it means to us to be here. That’s something that is part of my responsibility to spread in the right way.”
Carrick says he not seen any red flags since returning to the club on Tuesday, saying this is a fresh start and that he feels United are in a “good place” heading into Saturday’s derby at home to Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola recently passed 1,000 games as a manager but Saturday will be just the new head coach’s third in charge of a Premier League match, having only managed Championship outfit Middlesbrough before returning to United.
Carrick's first match is against Manchester City.
Carrick downplayed concerns over his inexperience – “I’ve never really thought about it like that, I just feel comfortable, I feel at home,” he said – and was coy when quizzed about the role beyond this season.
Asked if he had any discussions about the role after this campaign, he said: “No, not at the moment. I think we’re realistic as well and where we are at the moment, why I’m here and the role I’ve got to do.
“That doesn’t change how we go about it in the day-to-day and the focus and making decisions for the long-term strategy of the group and the playing squad and whatever that adds on extra and the layers after that.
“I’m certainly not coming in thinking it’s a time where week to week, game to game, we’ve got to get through it and tick each one off.
“I think we want to plan to improve beyond this season and however that looks at this moment, all I can control is what we give the players and how we create the atmosphere around the group.
“That’s the main focus and we’ll see what happens after that.”
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