![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/03140bf0-0802-4873-9e74-9fc22e81c54f.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCarrick \u2013 who briefly stepped in as caretaker manager for three games in 2021, winning two and drawing one \u2013 replaces Ruben Amorim in the United hotseat.<\/p>\n
Here is a look at what Carrick, who made 464 appearances for United between 2006 and 2018, will have at the forefront of his mind at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
Qualify for the Champions League<\/p>\n
Out of both domestic cups and not in a European competition for the first season since 2014-15, United are guaranteed to finish the season trophyless so their only aim now is a top-four finish.<\/p>\n
Amorim left the club in sixth, within three points of fourth, and Darren Fletcher, who took charge of United\u2019s FA Cup defeat by Brighton on Sunday, stressed salvaging the season rested on finishing in the Champions League positions.<\/p>\n
However, Carrick\u2019s first fixtures in charge are Saturday\u2019s visit of crosstown rivals Manchester City followed by a trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal \u2013 as daunting a start as it gets.<\/p>\n
Sort out the formation<\/p>\n
Amorim attracted a lot of scrutiny for a rigid attachment to his 3-4-3 formation, which had success at previous club Sporting Lisbon but seemed to be a straitjacket for many United players.<\/p>\n
When he switched to a more pragmatic 4-2-3-1 set-up as United welcomed Newcastle on St Stephen\u2019s Day, Amorim\u2019s side won 1-0 and recorded only their second clean sheet of the season.<\/p>\n
It was his last win in the job after going back to the flawed 3-4-3, a system Carrick seems unlikely to continue with.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Former Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim<\/p>\n
Bring in Kobbie Mainoo from the cold<\/p>\n
Kobbie Mainoo fell spectacularly out of favour with Amorim in the Portuguese\u2019s last few months, failing to even start a Premier League match this season.<\/p>\n
The England midfielder saw a request to leave on loan rejected in August and speculation over a January exit began to build, but Amorim\u2019s departure could transform his fortunes after Carrick said in September he was a fan of the 20-year-old.<\/p>\n
Carrick told former team-mate Rio Ferdinand: \u201cTo have a talent like that, as he\u2019s shown already, you\u2019ve got to have players like that. They get it, they know it, let\u2019s build around them. There\u2019s definitely a place for him (Mainoo) there, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kobbie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages_2255523898.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Kobbie Mainoo of Manchester United<\/p>\n
Manchester United confirm Michael Carrick appointment\n <\/p>\n
Consistency the key<\/p>\n
When Frank Ilett decided in October 2024 he was not going to cut his hair until United won five successive matches, it probably never occurred to him the challenge would outlive Amorim\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n
Sporting an \u2018afro-style\u2019 haircut, Ilett has become a minor social media celebrity, his popularity growing \u2013 like his hair \u2013 with each video after yet another United setback.<\/p>\n
Only once this season have United come close to putting Ilett out of his misery, with three wins in a row in October before a draw. Carrick must get United back to winning week in, week out more often.<\/p>\n
Fix the \u2018fragile\u2019 mentality<\/p>\n
The inability to string wins together has led many former United players, such as Gary Neville and Roy Keane, to question their mindset.<\/p>\n
Fletcher was the latest to draw attention to how \u201cfragile\u201d the players are in the aftermath of the defeat by the Seagulls, urging them to \u201cdig deep\u201d and \u201cbattle, grind, fight, work\u201d to gain confidence.<\/p>\n
Carrick, though, has a character that gets the approval of Sir Alex Ferguson, who in 2017 said he admired the ex-midfielder leaving his home in the north-east as a teenager in 1999 to start his professional career with West Ham.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt epitomised to me the confidence the boy had in himself. That impressed me,\u201d Ferguson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carrick \u2013 who briefly stepped in as caretaker manager for three games in 2021, winning two and drawing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,917,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-243391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-manchester-united","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}