Michael Carrick has made a significant impact since his appointment at Man Utd, and his coaching staff have been equally important.
Former United manager Ruben Amorim and his backroom staff.
Former United manager Ruben Amorim and his backroom staff.(Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)
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Adelio Candido was one of two assistants on Ruben Amorim's coaching staff during his Manchester United tenure, and he recently discussed his time coaching at the club.
"Experience is always experience, whether the outcome is good or bad, we always come away with learning," he said. "In Manchester, I really liked the city and the way the fans experience football. What I liked least was, without a doubt, feeling that our ideas weren't fully implemented."
Candido was asked whether being part of such a young coaching staff helped him to cope with intense pressure and responded: "I think the fact that we were young helped us deal with the pressure.
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"We always had a positive daily routine at work. With the existing pressure, it's normal for people to get more annoyed than usual in a technical team, and that wasn't the case for us."
Amorim did a lot wrong during his time at United, so much so that not much was made of his inexperienced coaching staff, but the impact made at the club by Michael Carrick's staff suggests it was probably a blind spot.
Amorim had worked with Carlos Fernandes and Candido at every senior management job he had taken on, so it was no surprise that he brought the two assistant coaches with him to Manchester from Sporting Lisbon.
When they arrived in November 2024, eight United players were older than Candido (who was 28), with Tom Heaton born a whole decade before him and Jonny Evans eight years and seven months his senior.
Fernandes celebrated his 30th birthday a few weeks after arriving at Carrington. The pair were examples of a new wave of staff who had gone straight into coaching after not having a professional playing career.
Amorim was a player at Benfica when he first crossed paths with Fernandes, who was an assistant in Benfica's youth ranks aged 18 while the future United boss was playing for the first team.
Despite some shocking performances, the dressing room did not turn on Amorim, and his coaching staff seemed popular with the players, but there were mixed signals about the quality of their coaching.
Although Fernandes looked after set-pieces and was credited with United's improvements in that area, Candido did not look like an obvious choice to oversee the warm-ups with the players before games.
More importantly, the results since Amorim's sacking have indicated that Carrick's backroom staff have been an upgrade. Carrick assembled a backroom team with a blend of experience and knowledge, while his predecessor stuck with a group of coaches he'd already worked with.
Going from job to job with the same coaching staff is not unusual in football, but Amorim's staff were inexperienced and would have benefited from working alongside someone like Steve Holland, who was a shrewd addition to Carrick's team.
Casemiro and Holland in Dublin.
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Holland worked as Gareth Southgate's assistant manager throughout his England tenure, helping the Three Lions finish third at the 2018 World Cup and runners-up in successive European Championships.
Before working with England, Holland spent several years at Chelsea, helping different managers to win silverware, so his CV was in a different league to what Fernandes and Candido could offer.
Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans and Travis Binnion were added as first-team coaches. Woodgate had the talent to be remembered as one of the finest English defenders of all time, but injuries hindered his career.
Unsurprisingly, the 46-year-old has passed on knowledge to United's defensive unit since his arrival, working individually with the defenders during training to help them improve, while Evans has done the same.
Evans is working in his first coaching role, but he has a deep knowledge and understanding of the club to offset that lack of experience. Binnion also possesses that understanding, having been at the club since 2019, and is a highly skilled coach who has been a huge hit with the players.
Binnion's official title at the academy was 'head of player development and coaching' before his first-team promotion. Binnion was Under-21 manager, but stepped up to help Darren Fletcher when he was caretaker boss.
Binnion has long been a conduit between the first team and the academy, advising which players are ready to participate in senior training sessions, but his remit has grown over the last few months.
Carrick's backroom staff have made a huge impact at Old Trafford. The jury was out on Amorim's coaching set-up.