- Manchester United legends continue to doubt Michael Carrick
- What Paul Sholes and Roy Keane have said
- Does Carrick have what it takes?
Former Manchester United legends Paul Scholes and Roy Keane have once again come out in the media to express their doubts over current United interim head coach Michael Carrick, with neither former midfielder fully convinced by the coach just yet.
Carrick has faced scrutiny throughout his reign as interim head coach, mainly from his former teammates.
Despite this, he has performed to an exceptional standard. Whilst lingering doubts remain—and rightly should be discussed—there is no denying that he has transformed the club across his four months in charge.
Following United’s 3-2 win against Liverpool—courtesy of a Kobbie Mainoo dagger in the 77th minute—United are now back in the Champions League for the first time since 2023.
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Scholes and Keane on Carrick ‘Issues’
Speaking on The Overlap, Scholes was the first to make a comment, claiming that “there are still big issues in the team.” Rightly so, there are.
Watch any match across Carrick’s 14 games in charge, and you will still see sloppy movement, structural insecurities in possession, and players making costly mistakes.
The Liverpool match served as a perfect example. Amad Diallo gave the ball away cheaply, whilst Mainoo and Casemiro both found themselves out of position, allowing Dominik Szoboszlai to burst through the centre and score Liverpool’s first.
But as Gary Neville quickly retorted to Scholes, “But he can’t fix those now,” a sentiment Keane agreed with. Neville then asked Scholes if, if he were Manchester United chairman, if he would appoint Carrick permanently.
Pausing to deliberate, slowly leaning back into his chair, Scholes initially avoided the question, claiming the club had “done well” not to act reactively, noting that in previous years they may have handed Carrick a five-year contract after winning a handful of major matches.
“The only thing he has really done is play Kobbie Mainoo and play people in the right positions. What we’ve seen from the other managers, the team were all over the place. There was a system they had no idea how to play.”
He added:
“They’ve got four good forwards that get you out of a lot of trouble at times. And I still see issues right through the middle of the pitch… Every time there’s a problem with Manchester United, it’s right through the middle of the pitch…. The Szoboszlai goal… Every goal they concede seems to be like that. Now, I don’t think we’ll know about Michael until we get to November, December.”
Scholes would later admit that he “would” appoint Carrick, but only if Luis Enrique was unavailable.
Keane, normally razor-sharp in his criticism, played the pacifist in this situation, however.
“He worked under Mourinho, he worked under Ole, he had a little spell when Ole left for three games, he is now manager for the first team, so they must have an idea if they think he has that personality to take them forward. Of course he lacks that experience, but he is winning football matches.”
That was not Keane’s only remark, however, as he also added: “Is Carrick going to get Manchester United competing at the top in the next two or three years? I don’t see it. But I’d love to be proven wrong.”
Does Carrick have what it takes?
Carrick is not the perfect manager. He has just a few years of experience, and he has never managed extensively in either Europe or the Premier League.
He still carries numerous tactical insecurities, many of which need to be ironed out if United truly want to climb back toward the summit of English football.
The Englishman has also never overseen a transfer window for a Premier League club. But he is winning football matches.
Overseeing 14 games, he’s achieved 10 wins, two draws and two defeats. United have looked genuinely poor in just one match under him.
Carrick has dragged the club from seventh to third in the table. He has reignited the squad, thrusting Mainoo back toward stardom whilst Bruno Fernandes plays some of the best football of his United career.
The Englishman is not the perfect manager by any means, but the club do not need perfection right now. After finishing 15th in the 2024/25 campaign, United needed structure, discipline, and progression.
Whilst Amorim had started to impress, too many cracks still ran through the squad. Carrick has patched those up.
He is not the finished product. At just 44 years old, he still has years ahead of him as a coach, and plenty left to learn. But when a manager walks into a fractured season and produces what Carrick has across these 14 games, it becomes increasingly difficult to argue that he has not earned the right to take this project forward.
Read: “These Records are a Joke” – Rio Ferdinand Hails Michael Carrick After Man Utd 3-2 Liverpool
