{"id":466571,"date":"2026-02-13T16:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466571\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T16:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:27:08","slug":"a-month-of-carrick-as-man-utd-head-coach-what-has-stood-out-under-interim-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466571\/","title":{"rendered":"A month of Carrick as Man Utd head coach: What has stood out under interim boss?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello! Welcome to a brand new column from me, Ian Irving, host of the\u00a0Talk of the Devils podcast<\/a>. Every Friday during the season, I will bring you my reflections, along with the best of our Manchester United content from across our channels, just in case you missed it. There will also be some big talking points and debates as we head into the weekend action. So let\u2019s get to it\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one month on Friday since Manchester United announced the return of Michael Carrick as head coach until the end of season. Few could have predicted the impact he\u2019s made over the course of the past five matches, even with his winning run coming to an end at West Ham. He\u2019s certainly made the last few Talk of the Devils episodes much more pleasurable to record, and our writers have been pointing out the subtle touches and changes he\u2019s made since January 13\u2026<\/p>\n

Carl Anka<\/p>\n

Every now and then, you\u2019ll be sat in a room in late afternoon\/early evening and someone else will walk in and switch on the light.<\/p>\n

That \u201cwas I sat in here in the dark for that long?\u201d feeling is how I felt watching Carrick across these few matches and press conferences.<\/p>\n

He plays it straight with the media. Not to say he doesn\u2019t have a sense of humour, but there are fewer moments when you go \u2018that\u2019s going to cause a splash later\u2019. That\u2019s not great for a journalist hunting headlines. However, it is greatly appreciated by supporters after several months of chaos.<\/p>\n

Mark Critchley<\/p>\n

Bruno Fernandes\u2019 comments post-Spurs struck me. His emphasis on the freedom that Carrick has given the players to make their own decisions out on the pitch rang true for all four games up to that point and feels a sharp contrast to Ruben Amorim\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Amorim was more structured (Robbie Jay Barratt \u2013 AMA\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

I also thought his handling of Benjamin Sesko after the Manchester derby \u2014 pulling him for a quick word amid the celebrations after he didn\u2019t get on \u2014 was revealing, at a moment when he could so easily have been caught up in the emotions of a big win. You could tell that presence of mind was appreciated by Sesko, who has repaid him with two big goals since, even if he\u2019s still not starting.<\/p>\n

Andy Mitten<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been the same look for Michael Carrick on the touchline each match so far. A navy, wool \u2018Epson\u2019 coat from club sponsor Paul Smith, with the collar flicked up at the back. He looks decent, doesn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n

His style hasn\u2019t quite made the splash of Ruben Amorim when a Paul Smith coat he wore early on sold out and became simply known as \u2018The Ruben\u2019. But that\u2019s fine. It\u2019s all positive at the moment; he\u2019s coming across calmly and in control. Criticism is a hard sell when you\u2019re winning matches. If you\u2019re judging him on a block of five matches, then he\u2019s done exceptionally well.<\/p>\n

Laurie Whitwell<\/p>\n

Substitutions. Having not seen one player come off the bench to score under Ruben Amorim this season, three goals have come via Michael Carrick\u2019s changes. (I argue morally that number is four through Mason Mount against Man City).<\/p>\n

That can be a lucky touch, but it does speak to Carrick\u2019s mentality for taking a risk. When Patrick Dorgu was injured against Arsenal, he sent on Benjamin Sesko rather than shoring things up with United leading. Sesko was involved in Matheus Cunha\u2019s winner \u2014 himself off the bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sesko has since scored twice as a sub, and while that might suggest he is worthy of a start, there is psychological power in opponents fearing what could come their way late on. Against West Ham, Carrick eventually threw caution to the wind by replacing Diogo Dalot with Joshua Zirkzee (who nearly scored). Such a bold replacement wouldn\u2019t have felt likely under Amorim.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see if Carrick\u2019s streak on that front continues.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been interesting to see how Michael Carrick has come across in his media work as head coach because he hasn\u2019t changed. He was a steadying influence on Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s midfield, and he was the steadying voice sent out to do interviews when David Moyes and Louis van Gaal\u2019s results faltered. He used to tease the club media officers that he wasn\u2019t allowed to speak to anyone after United won. But they trusted him to give the right response.<\/p>\n

Watch out for the pause and the nod as he receives a question and then formulates his answer. The same tell was there as a player. There have already been tricky topics to respond to as well, such as Roy Keane\u2019s criticism of his wife, his opinion of the Glazers\u2019 ownership of the club, and also subjects where the tone needed to be right, like the influence of the Munich Air Disaster on shaping the club. His reaction to Sir Jim Ratcliffe\u2019s comments may well be another challenge again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not lost a game yet, and we will learn much more about his leadership of the team when that happens and how they respond.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still very early days despite the emails we received this week from fans asking if two dropped points in east London were the end of his hopes of staying on beyond the end of the season. As I wrote in this column a couple of weeks ago, people just need to see how it plays out; the picture will become clearer as the season goes on. What\u2019s the rush?<\/p>\n

Just this week, Thomas Tuchel signing a new deal with England has already seemingly ruled him out of the reckoning, while Roberto De Zerbi leaving Marseille has made him more available \u2014 two managers who spoke to United in the summer of 2024 when the club were weighing up Erik ten Hag\u2019s future. Week by week, result by result, the picture will become clearer.<\/p>\n

Devil in the detail: Leny Yoro\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s played just 23 minutes of Carrick\u2019s first 450 minutes as head coach. In fact, he\u2019s started just one of United\u2019s last nine Premier League matches that three different bosses have overseen. He\u2019s been firmly out of favour. Part of that has been the switch in formation, with a back four even used by Ruben Amorim over his final matches, plus the form of Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez. But part of that has also been Yoro\u2019s form.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His late cameo at the London Stadium was something of a reminder of his quality. There\u2019s an argument to be made that his substitution wasn\u2019t just about the hamstring knock that Maguire seemed to suffer in the first half, but more about Carrick managing the risk of West Ham breakaways with Yoro\u2019s superior recovery pace. His speed helped, but the measure of the moments he saw off from Callum Wilson and Adama Traore were excellent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I heard Joleon Lescott describe an elite centre-back\u2019s job recently as narrowing down an attacker\u2019s options. Not necessarily stopping them, but rather deciding for the opponent with your actions what you\u2019d like them to do. In these examples at the London Stadium, Yoro\u2019s positioning initially cuts off the option to square a pass, pushing the player to have to keep the ball and shoot, before snuffing that out with a block.<\/p>\n

Carl described him as a cat on Wednesday\u2019s Talk of the Devils, while the other centre-back options in the squad are more dogs. You\u2019ll have to listen or watch the episode back to understand fully what he\u2019s on about, but it comes from a Michael Cox piece on The Athletic in 2019<\/a> about Leicester\u2019s past pairing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still only 20, and in December, he became the youngest United defender to reach 50 appearances since Phil Jones in 2013. There\u2019s plenty to come.<\/p>\n

Red all over
\nTuesday at West Ham was the highest share of possession United have had in a match since Carrick\u2019s return. The challenge of having so much of the ball and trying to break down a low block has become a perennial problem for the team, and Liam Tharme has been explaining why<\/a>.
\nA poke, a flick, a finessed finish. I\u2019ve heard many ways to describe Benjamin Sesko\u2019s fifth goal in his past six appearances that rescued the point late on at the London Stadium. Despite being one of the most in-form forwards in the country, he\u2019s yet to start a match under Carrick, but is that about to change? Carl assesses the dilemma<\/a>.
\nBruno Fernandes\u2019 shinned strike against Spurs last weekend was his 200th goal involvement for United. He told reporters after the game that the touch off his lower leg was deliberate and the only way he believed he could control the ball to score the second of the game. It\u2019s the latest in a line of impressive statistics for him this season, so is this the best version yet of Bruno?<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s senior team have a 13-day gap between West Ham and Everton. They only face two matches scheduled on weekends between now and the middle of April. Fortunately, the women\u2019s side\u2019s season is really heating up to fill the void. The first leg of their first-ever last 16 tie took place away to Atletico last night, resulting in a 3-0 win, which showcased the quality of Melvine Malard<\/a>, and Marc Skinner\u2019s side also face Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round as well as in the club\u2019s first-ever League Cup final over the next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hello! Welcome to a brand new column from me, Ian Irving, host of the\u00a0Talk of the Devils podcast.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[3788,403,99],"class_list":["post-466571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-manchester-united","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}