Michael Carrick said Manchester Utd “never left me” after returning as the club’s head coach until the end of the season.
Carrick’s return to Old Trafford
was confirmed on Tuesday night, the former United midfielder succeeding the sacked Ruben Amorim.
The former England international made 464 appearances as a United player between 2006 and 2018, winning the Champions League and five Premier League titles among a host of other trophies.
The 44-year-old briefly stepped in as caretaker manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November 2021 before spending over two-and-a-half years as Middlesbrough boss.
“I didn’t expect it,” Carrick said in his first interview on the club’s media platform. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to come back through the doors and be part of the club again.
“It’s been part of my life for so long. The fact that I left the club for a number of years, but it’s never left me.
“The family’s so entwined, go to every game, season tickets. I love the place.
“To sit here as the head coach of Manchester Utd and looking after the first team is a huge buzz.”
Carrick was chosen to take charge of team affairs ahead of Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy, another former United playing hero. kingofcorrectscore.com
Steve Holland, who was Gareth Southgate’s assistant during his eight years as England boss, Jonathan Woodgate — who worked with Carrick at Middlesbrough — former defender Jonny Evans and United’s under-21s coach Travis Binnion are on the coaching staff.
Asked about the balance of his backroom staff, Carrick said: “It’s probably the most important thing, to pull on different characters and different experiences.
“Steve’s got an unbelievable wealth of experience, also at Chelsea in terms of going through similar situations to this. Changeover of manager and coach, dealing with that and staying successful.
“Jonathan is loyal, very knowledgeable and the perfect balance to me. He challenges and pushes me, he has done for the last three years and he’ll keep doing that.
“This club is about producing young players and Trav is going to have a massive part in that. Jonny has come through this football club and gets it.
“He’s got a massive amount of experience to pass on to the players, so I think there’s a real balance of personalities, characters, knowledge and experience.”
Carrick could not have asked for a tougher start with seventh-placed United kicking off his reign against the top two, Manchester City and leaders Arsenal.
United host City in the Manchester derby on Saturday and Carrick — who will meet the players for the first time on Wednesday — said: “There’s a clear focus to have a big end to the season, we’ve got to put the team in the right place to do that.
“The history [of Manchester Utd] is great but I’m fully aware that we’re onto something new here and we need to grow and go in a good direction, which I feel we will.”
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