Michael Carrick's Ambitious Challenge as Manchester United Manager
Michael Carrick knows the questions are coming. About signings. About ambition. About Marcus Rashford.
He also knows this: standing still at Manchester United is not an option.
The 42-year-old is about to walk into his first full Premier League season as United manager, and he is under no illusions about the scale of the job or the glare that comes with it. He calls it a “privilege” to lead a club of this size, but privilege here comes tied to scrutiny, expectation and a transfer market that has already exposed United’s limitations.
Spending, but not enough
On paper, United have not been idle. They have committed £83m on Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, while Karl Darlow has arrived on a free as back-up goalkeeper. Carrick is “delighted” with that business so far.
Yet the gaps are obvious. Left-back remains a concern. Central midfield still needs another layer of protection and control. And with United returning to the Champions League after a two-year absence, Carrick is acutely aware that this squad, as it stands, looks short.
The summer has also carried a different kind of message. United have missed out on targets such as Elliot Anderson and Matheus Fernandes after refusing to match rival offers, and they are currently spending less than newly promoted Ipswich and Coventry. For a club built on the idea of leading, not following, that stings.
Carrick is not pretending otherwise.
“We want more, we need more, we keep looking for how we can do that,” he said. “Money’s money, I get that. We feel like we have to be pushing for everything we’re involved in, while being realistic of what the recent history’s looked like over a period of time.
“For now, we’ve got to make the most of it, but we’ve got to push every boundary we can to be able to win again, basically. That’s the challenge.”
A manager at ease, a club on edge
Away from the transfer noise, Carrick cut a relaxed figure this week. His daughter received the A-level grades she wanted on Thursday, and United’s pre-season schedule has been kinder than usual: no energy-sapping tours across multiple time zones, just a focused swing through Scandinavia with games against Wrexham, Rosenborg, Atletico Madrid and Paris St-Germain, followed by Leeds in Dublin.
“I love the position I’m in,” he said. “There’s the football side; the tactical, the training, putting the team together. Then there’s the other side; being the face of it, leading it, trying to set the right messages, the right behaviours and right tone for what we want to look like as a football club.
“I never take anything that this position and this football club brings for granted.”
He will need all sides of that role in the coming weeks. Because the conversation keeps circling back to one name.
Rashford: wanted, but will he stay?
Carrick was given multiple chances to say it outright: Marcus Rashford will be a Manchester United player when the transfer window closes on 1 September.
He never did.
“He’s our player,” was the line he stuck to. Over and over.
What also stood out was the way Carrick framed his relationship with Rashford. The England forward is not the only player in this squad he has previously coached, managed or shared a dressing room with, and Carrick was keen to underline that.
“It is not a unique situation at all and [we] treat him exactly like any other player,” he said.
The supporters’ view is more complicated. Many have not forgiven Rashford for what they see as his coolness towards United during loan spells at Aston Villa and Barcelona, where most people assumed he would be playing this season. Those close to him accept there is a stark contrast between the disinterested figure who faded under Ruben Amorim and the fully engaged forward widely regarded as the best academy product to emerge since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
The irony is hard to miss. Rashford’s likely first appearance back in United colours could come against Amorim’s AC Milan in Wroclaw, Poland, on Saturday.
Carrick, though, is convinced the 28-year-old still has plenty to give.
“Football’s got different directions,” he said. “You’ve got to manage through the states to have a career for 10 or 15 years. It’s never going to be smooth sailing.
“But you’ve got to keep moving forward. If you keep looking back too much, it doesn’t do anyone any favours.
“It’s been good to have Marcus around this week. He’s our player. He’s a good player, and he gives us something a little bit different.”
Mainoo’s reset
Rashford was not the only England international back through the door on Sunday evening. Kobbie Mainoo returned as well, and for Carrick, it almost feels like starting again.
When he replaced Amorim in January, after Darren Fletcher’s brief two-game spell as interim boss, Carrick found a midfielder of clear talent whose confidence had been badly dented by a lack of trust. Mainoo had been largely ignored by Amorim, used only sparingly, even as his ability to retain the ball seemed tailor-made for the higher-pressure stages of last season.
At least he did make a Premier League appearance off the bench under Amorim. He did not even manage that for Thomas Tuchel at the World Cup, watching on as England went out with many observers feeling they lacked exactly the kind of composure and control he offers.
Carrick understands that frustration on a personal level. Fabio Capello barely looked his way at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the memory still bites.
He made sure Mainoo did not feel abandoned.
“I spoke to him all the way through the World Cup, not loads, but little bits,” Carrick said. “It’s challenging. From the outside we all see the glitz, the glamour and all the positive sides of football.
“But players are human beings. We all have our ups and downs. It’s important we support each other.
“It was a good experience for Kobbie. It’s a World Cup and that is a big step.
“He’s still such a young man and he’s achieved so much, so quickly. To be at the stage he’s at is an achievement.”
That, ultimately, is the tightrope Carrick is walking: nurturing young talent, managing big personalities, rebuilding trust with a fanbase, all while pushing a club with reduced financial muscle to compete on multiple fronts.
He says he loves the position he is in. The next few weeks will show how much power he really has to shape it.
