Two of Manchester United\u2019s most prominent voices have offered sharply different views on Michael Carrick\u2019s prospects of moving from interim to permanent manager. The debate intensified after United\u2019s win over Villa at Old Trafford, where Carrick\u2019s run as caretaker drew praise and scepticism in equal measure.<\/p>\n
Wayne Rooney was unequivocal in his backing, saying he \u201cknew\u201d a turnaround was coming when Carrick took charge and insisting the former midfielder \u201c100 per cent\u201d deserves a contract for next season. \u201cI know him very well. I know his character and his personality. It needed a calm head, but someone who knows the place. The players needed some love, and he has given them that,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cWe have seen the players play with more quality, more together as a team, and they look like a very strong team. Why would you change?\u201d<\/p>\n
The evidence Rooney pointed to includes immediate improvements in performances against Manchester City and Arsenal in January, and a clearer, simpler approach that many associate with the club\u2019s traditional style. Not every display has matched that early standard, but results have largely followed, a practical measure of success at elite level.<\/p>\n
Roy Keane offered a contrasting view. The outspoken former captain, openly criticized by Carrick\u2019s wife more than a decade ago prompting surprise beef that seemingly continues to this day, acknowledged Carrick\u2019s progress but would not personally hand him the job. \u201cI would\u2019ve thought [Carrick will become permanent manager] but I wouldn\u2019t [give him the job],\u201d Keane said. \u201cI think there\u2019s better options out there. I think the games where he\u2019s come in and in terms of winning football matches, he\u2019s done a very good job. He’s obviously simplified things but there\u2019s been no jeopardy in those games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keane highlighted Carrick\u2019s lack of experience in European competition and trophy-winning management as a potential drawback. \u201cI think to manage Manchester United, you need someone a lot more experienced in terms of winning trophies, competing in Europe and he hasn\u2019t got that. He might have that in a few years, and he might be in the mix then. But the fact he\u2019s winning football matches at the moment of course gives him a great chance [of getting hired now].\u201d<\/p>\n
Keane listed Diego Simeone, Luis Enrique and Thomas Tuchel when asked about alternatives. Tuchel, who was a consideration in the summer of 2024 when United decided to keep faith in Erik ten Hag, might have been an option until recently extending his contract as England manager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rooney urges United to keep Carrick; Keane doubts his long-term fit but concedes the job is earned. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,172],"tags":[1530,1531],"class_list":["post-8722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-epl","tag-caretaker-manager","tag-roy-keane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8722","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=8722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}