Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Michael Carrick has learned a lot from being part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team at Old Trafford ahead of Manchester United’s Carabao Cup clash on Wednesday.
The 45-year-old Manchester United legend was a key figure on the Red Devils coaching staff alongside Kieran McKenna when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.
Solskjaer had permanently replaced Jose Mourinho in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era after his caretaker run catapulted him to the permanent United managerial role.
However, the 53-year-old Man Utd treble winner met the same fate as Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford after he was sacked by the Red Devils back in 2021.
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Michael Carrick knows how much the lack of major silverware under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer impacted Man Utd
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did see high points during his managerial spell at Old Trafford, including leading Manchester United to second place in the Premier League table. However, the beloved former Man Utd boss was unable to escape the criticism around his failure to capture a single piece of major silverware as the club’s manager.
United came close to the Europa League trophy under Solskjaer, but the Red Devils fell short to Spanish side Villarreal on penalties in the 2021 final in Poland. Solskjaer lifted an abundance of trophies during his prolific playing spell at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson. But his non-trophy run at United as a manager became a stick to beat Solskjaer with each time.
Michael Carrick knows from experience that he cannot follow in Solskjaer’s footsteps by not lifting silverware and stressed the importance of trophies to his time as Man Utd boss.
“Well, there’s obviously two sides to that, I suppose,” he said at Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, as per Manchester United’s official website.
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Carrick added: “For me, trophies are the beauty and the feeling of winning. It is what we’re in football for, what we’re in sport for. It’s certainly what I’m at this club for – to try to win. It’s not straightforward, and you decide you want to win and you go and win.
“Of course not. But it’s important. I think trophies and achieving things and giving supporters that feeling of emotion of that is important, definitely.”
Carrick has been familiar with the Carabao Cup both as a manager and as a player, but the United legend is under pressure to deliver a key result on Wednesday now. United lost 1-0 to 10-man Manchester City in the Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Sunday, which amplified the Red Devils’ mixed start to the season.
The United manager will not want to earn the same reputation as Solskjaer for falling short on the silverware front at United in the post-Ferguson era. However, Carrick is not naive about the real challenge that it takes for him to lift a trophy at the Red Devils either.