Michael Carrick will return to Old Trafford on Saturday, having been appointed as Manchester United’s interim head coach until the end of the 2025/26 season following the sacking of Ruben Amorim.
Having made 464 appearances for the Red Devils throughout his successful playing career, the 44-year-old faces a tough first game in charge against a Manchester City side that will be keen to close the six-point gap to Arsenal at the helm of the Premier League table.
Carrick was previously appointed as caretaker manager in November 2021, following the club’s decision to dismiss Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Nearly a year later, he took charge at Middlesbrough and remained at the Riverside Stadium until he was sacked at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
Speaking to Manchester United’s Inside Carrington podcast on Tuesday, Carrick revealed that his interim spell is about “working with the players […] and helping them get better individually, which hopefully will help the team improve.”
“I’m one of them. We’re all in it together, and I think it’s important that we all look after each other,” he continued, emphasising that he is well aware “it comes down to results” at the end of the day.
“There’s different ways of doing it, of course, [and] different situations in games that [mean] you might have to play a certain way.”
“Hopefully we can play a really exciting type of football and be positive and express and bring excitement. I want to be off my seat. I want to be enjoying watching the boys play, and results obviously need to come with that.”
The former midfielder reiterated: “My focus now is on helping the players to reach the standards that we expect at this incredible club, which we know that this group is more than capable of producing.”
“There is still a lot to fight for this season. We’re ready to pull everyone together and give the fans the performances that their loyal support deserves.”
Carrick will meet the squad for the first time on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City, which gets underway at 12:30 GMT.