COUNTY KILDARE, Ireland — On the day Michael Carrick sat down with reporters at Manchester United‘s training base outside Dublin for a wide-ranging preseason interview, he found out his daughter, Louise, had passed her A-level exams.
Carrick, appointed United’s permanent head coach in May, is facing his own test this season. Parachuted into the job in January, he was a successful interim. The next challenge is to build on it and take another step forward.
It won’t be easy. Carrick was part of a United team that was expected to win every game. He carries that same motivation as manager, despite being well aware that this squad is not the same as some of Sir Alex Ferguson’s juggernauts. Instead, it’s a group in transition.
“We understand the reality of what we feel we can achieve,” Carrick said. “How strong we are, what we have done over a shorter period of time and what we can potentially do this season and beyond.
“Of course, we’ve got to be realistic and not get carried away and think everything is going to be rosy, because it never is, never was, never will be. We understand that, but excited and really positive about what’s next, and we’ve got to try and win every game.”
Whatever happens between now and the end of the transfer window, United won’t be the finished article on Sept. 2. There will still be a sizable gap to Arsenal and Manchester City. And yet the expectation remains. Ready or not.
If nothing else, Carrick seems to be the right man to take it on. He smiles and jokes through question after question about transfers, the returning Marcus Rashford, whether or not there’s money to spend — “to be honest, I haven’t got the answers for that” — and if United can win the title this season. He was calm as a player and is now calm as a head coach.
It’s one of the reasons he got the job in the first place. He wasn’t flustered last season when he was on the end of stinging — and personal — criticism from United legend Roy Keane, and he’s not flustered now, even if plans to strengthen the squad this summer haven’t gone quite as expected.
Carrick is prepared to put the club’s interests before his own and there won’t be any wild tantrums if CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox decide a particular player is out of reach. There is, though, frustration among some fans.
Manchester City have signed Elliot Anderson for £116 million; Chelsea paid £1 million more to land Morgan Rogers; Arsenal have added Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle United for £75 million; Tottenham Hotspur have acquired Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes for a combined £185 million.
United have signed Andrey Santos (£48 million) from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans (£35 million) from Aston Villa. They are two good players — one youthful and exciting, the other proven and experienced — but, so far, the spending across the squad hasn’t been on the same level as their rivals.
Carrick has made it clear he would like more new faces, but each time it comes with an important caveat: “It has to be right.”
There are other issues. Left back Luke Shaw started every Premier League game last season, but there are doubts about whether his body will hold up under the strain of three games a week now that United are back in the UEFA Champions League.
First-choice center forward Benjamin Sesko is yet to appear in preseason because of an injury that has dragged over from the end of last season. Carrick has numbers at center back in Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martínez, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, but there are problems with each — some are prone to injuries, others are inexperienced or inconsistent.
Forward Bryan Mbeumo, refreshed and sharp in the preseason games, has been a positive; so has Santos, whom Carrick described as “a dream.” Some recruitment staff are keen to see Tielemans and captain Bruno Fernandes play together regularly, believing that their styles are well-suited.
If Carrick agrees, that would leave one midfield place for either Santos or Kobbie Mainoo, and it’s hard to see Mainoo being left out after doing so well last season.
Carrick’s player management was needed over the summer when Mainoo was being overlooked by England manager Thomas Tuchel at the World Cup. It will be needed again with Rashford now that the forward is back after 18 months on loan at Aston Villa and Barcelona.
Carrick stopped short of saying Rashford will definitely be part of the squad this season, but that’s where it’s headed.
“Marcus can offer us so much,” Carrick said. “He has done, and he can do again. In that respect, it’s quite exciting.”
In terms of interest and headlines, Rashford is still United’s star, and having the 28-year-old forward back in the squad will create more questions for Carrick. There are more people watching this season than ever before, with Amazon cameras following every move as they begin to collect footage for the latest “All or Nothing” fly-on-the-wall documentary.
After his media duties end, Carrick escapes the glare for a few hours in the afternoon by going golfing at the team hotel. Carton House in County Kildare, used by Carrick and the squad for a training camp in April, has two courses: the O’Meara and the Montgomerie.
After the last trip to Ireland, United returned home to wrap up Champions League qualification. Handed a tough assignment in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s departure, Carrick passed with flying colors. His next examination starts now.
