Former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick spent 12 years at the club as a player, winning several Premier League titles, a Champions League title, and many more to boot a spectacular stay at the Old Trafford club.
Carrick hung up his boots following the 2017/18 season under Jose Mourinho and is widely regarded as one of the most underrated players in the club’s modern history.
Following his retirement, he immediately took up a role in Jose Mourinho’s coaching staff. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer arrived at the club just months later and decided to retain Carrick and Kieran McKenna in the backroom staff revamp.
The Athletic have detailed Carrick’s involvement in Manchester United’s coaching and given insight on what his role is beyond the scenes.
According to the publication, Carrick’s skill is in ‘spotting details’ and ‘influencing players with an arm-around-the-shoulder and a one-to-one chat’.
The claims are backed up by former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt, who is adamant that Solskjaer is a great delegator of work, a skill he most likely learned from Sir Alex Ferguson.
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“He (Solskjaer) understands what he excels in and he understands what other people are better than him at. He gives autonomy, he doesn’t micromanage everybody, he’s good at delegating,” Butt told the publication.
“You can see that with how he works on the bench. One minute it will be Carra (Carrick) standing up, the next Mick (Phelan) or Kieran or Ole. You don’t see that with all managers but it works for Ole and that’s how he likes it. He can be an out-and-out coach but he sees himself as the manager of a team who are, together, managing the biggest football club in the world.”
There are, however, some reservations about Solskjaer’s approach to delegation, as some sources told The Athletic that the approach could prove towards the Norwegian manager’s indecisiveness in some situations.
Carrick’s coaching career remains young but the 40-year-old is already assuming great responsibility at the club, with the one-on-one sessions hinting he is proving to be a valuable asset to Solskjaer’s team.
