Michael Carrick\u2019s first match in charge produced a 2-0 Premier League win over Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday and has immediately intensified the conversation about his prospects for the permanent Manchester United role. Fans noted a team showing confidence, resilience, pace and width against their neighbours, and the result has helped Carrick\u2019s position in a crowded field that includes the outgoing Oliver Glasner and other high-profile names mentioned in the running.<\/p>\n
Carrick\u2019s journey to this moment is marked by setbacks and resolve. I helped Carrick write his memoirs in 2018, and was astonished to learn he had knock knees as a kid and a consultant recommended remedial surgery. The operation carried a risk that could have confined him to a wheelchair. His parents, Lynn and Vince, decided against surgery and Carrick wore orthotic insoles for virtually his 19-year career. He played 464 times for United and is 17th in their all-time appearance list of the 983 who have represented United.<\/p>\n
He endured personal lows, too. When a 25-game unbeaten Champions League run was ended by Lionel Messi in Rome in 2009, Carrick withdrew from an England end-of-season international and sat in his garden grieving. He almost gave up playing and, over 18 months of inner turmoil, he mentioned his depression only to Lisa, Graeme, Lynn and Vince. Time, an Achilles recovery and new contract talks helped him recover.<\/p>\n
He also faced a health scare in 2017 when, feeling unwell against Burton Albion, doctors found an irregular heart rhythm; an operation followed and he resumed playing before retiring in 2018. He represented England 34 times over 15 years and learned from frustrations there about handling players.<\/p>\n
Carrick\u2019s temperament is clear in small details: meticulous preparation, an admitted OCD, and a relentless internal question: “Are you willing to keep pushing yourself? Yes. Have you got it in you to climb Everest and then set off to climb it all over again? Yes.” He has said, “I didn’t just play for Manchester United. I lived for them.” That mindset, combined with managerial experience across 136 games in charge of Middlesbrough from 2022 to 2025, explains why his early run as caretaker is being taken seriously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carrick’s rise: knock knees, surgery avoided, depression, heart scare and promising Old Trafford win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,1348],"tags":[1084,1047,1087],"class_list":["post-6077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-manchester-united-news","tag-achilles-injury","tag-champions-league","tag-coaching-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}