Michael Carrick has scrapped a whole host of rules from the Ruben Amorim era at Manchester United, with his tweaks on the training ground and match days bringing success
Head Coach Michael Carrick of Manchester United speaks
Michael Carrick has made a fantastic start at Manchester United(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
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Michael Carrick has made a huge impact at Manchester United after stepping into the void created by Ruben Amorim's exit - and he hasn't been shy to rip up his predecessor's work. United chiefs sacked Amorim on January 5 following a provocative press conference and turned to Carrick eight days later after considering Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The former midfielder has returned four wins and a draw in his five Premier League matches in charge so far, completely shifting the mood at the club. United will go fourth, two points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool, if they beat Everton on Monday night, putting them in a good position to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Carrick immediately ditched Amorim's 3-4-2-1 formation, in favour of a more simplistic 4-2-3-1, and has also recalled Kobbie Mainoo from exile under the former manager. United have been better at both ends of the pitch, beating Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham before drawing at West Ham.
The 44-year-old has put his name in the frame for the permanent role in the summer, when chief executive Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will make a call on the direction of travel. If Carrick keeps on winning and keeps everyone happy then he has a good chance of securing the job and his success has partly been due to instigating change.
Carrick has stuck to his own principles on the coaching pitch, changing the approach from Amorim's coaching staff. The Daily Mail reports that he has tweaked four things around logistics too, using his own experiences as a player to make plans fit better.
He immediately shortened training sessions to make them more intense. That had the desired impact straight away, with Wayne Rooney reporting that Carrick had decided to stop training early ahead of the 3-2 win over Arsenal in January because it had been of such a high quality that he didn't want to taint it by continuing.
“He wanted to bottle it up and make sure they had that performance for the game the following day," Rooney said on Match of the Day at the time. The work on the training ground, led by Carrick and his assistant Steve Holland has hugely impressed the players.
Michael Carrick speaking with assistant manager Steve Holland
Michael Carrick and assistant Steve Holland have made an impact(Image: James Gill - Danehouse, Getty Images)
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Carrick has also tweaked the approach on match days, ordering players to arrive 15 later for both home games and away games. Players now arrive one hour and 45 minutes before kick-off at Old Trafford and opponents' grounds.
The other main difference to Amorim is that Carrick likes to speak to players immediately after matches in order to relay his feedback. This has gone down well, because the interim boss has been viewed as down to earth and approachable, rather than aloof like Amorim.
He has also introduced mandatory days off immediately following matches. A move which has gone down particularly well with players, who are able to spend more time with visiting family.
Harry Maguire recently outlined the improvements Carrick has inspired in the team. "Loads more urgency - and not just from the defenders, from the midfielders and the wide men getting back in and the striker protecting the edge of the box," he told TNT Sports. "It's so important that we do it as a team and we've got to make sure we get the spaces right and that we're compact all over the pitch. Michael will bring that."
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