By Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
Michael Carrick’s promising return to Manchester United unravelled within three months, with poor performances, dressing-room tensions, tactical shortcomings and individual errors contributing to a disastrous run that ultimately cost him his job.
Michael Carrick’s return to Manchester United has lasted for eleven months, but he departs on a poor note for a man whom Old Trafford didn’t get enough of after an initial spell that lasted only three games.
For years, they looked forward to his return, and even though it arrived prematurely, it peaked and plummeted in no time.
After just ten months, seven of which were filled with optimism and plenty to look forward to in the new season, the final three were the exact opposite: a nightmare that left the board with no choice but to pull him out of his misery.
Relieving Michael Carrick of his duties as Manchester United boss at the point the decision was made is doing him a favour, because his résumé does not fit, and his charisma is even more questionable.
Having arrived in an interim capacity to succeed Ruben Amorim in January, Carrick wasted no time in fixing one major crisis facing the club at the time: inconsistency. And by the end of May, he had earned more points than any manager since his appointment.
Kicking off his return with a dominant Manchester derby win, beating Arsenal at the Emirates, securing victories over Liverpool and Chelsea, and then finishing off the season with a 3-0 success away at Brighton, it was the perfect set-up to be entrusted with the role.
It was such a glorious run that the board could not resist handing him the job because, had they not made that choice, they would have been held accountable should things go wrong with a new manager, because apparently, Carrick could do no wrong.
Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned, and just three months into the new season, Manchester United look worse than they have ever been under any manager during their years of struggle.
One league win in ten leaves them in the relegation zone heading into the November international break, making this their worst start to a season in Premier League history.
And Michael Carrick, fortunately for him, departs not as the worst manager in the club’s history, thanks to his remarkable numbers in the second half of last term, but he is responsible for the worst start to a Premier League season in Manchester United’s history.
But what went wrong in such a short period?
On paper, Manchester United were supposed to kick off the season with a schedule that would help them continue where they left off last season.
Two newly promoted teams, Hull City and Ipswich Town, followed by a visit to Everton, where they’ve won three of their last four games and remained unbeaten, were expected to help them get ready for the first Manchester derby of the season.
However, their weaknesses were laid bare in an opening-day loss at the MKM Stadium, as Sergej Jakirovic’s Hull secured the club’s first-ever Premier League win over Manchester United.
And even in their win over Ipswich Town, there were indications of these weaknesses.
It never got better as they conceded a late equaliser at Everton in round three, only to be beaten at Old Trafford by 10-man Manchester City despite playing for more than 70 minutes with a man advantage.
From there, it was clear Michael Carrick lacked what it takes to motivate the team, because the result was followed by a Carabao Cup exit to Brighton at Old Trafford, a game in which they had led 2-0 in the opening 10 minutes, only to concede three times and lose 3-2 to the Seagulls.
United failed to beat Fulham, conceded a late equaliser against 10-man Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford and got battered in a 2-0 Champions League loss to Atlético Madrid, only to return to the league and be held to another draw at Leeds.
Their performances continued to drop as the season stretched, while players who took responsibilities in the past started hiding in the shadows. Bruno Fernandes for one, offered nothing like a reigning PFA Player of the Year winner.
In the following two games, they conceded seven times, losing 4-1 to Como in a disgraceful Champions League outing, before being beaten 3-0 at home by Bournemouth, who became the first team to score 3+ goals in four consecutive Premier League visits to Old Trafford.
Player started talking and when that happens, it is clear the manager no longer have the backing of the dressing room.
It got so complicated that even captain Bruno Fernandes publicity criticized the coach’s tactics after the loss to Como, which resulted in him being left on the bench in the loss to Bournemouth, even though Michael Carrick maintained it was a tactical call.
By the time they lost 2-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United had gone nine games across all competitions without a win, while their only win in eleven came against Azerbaijani side Sabah in the Champions League.
This season, United’s three wins in 15 games have come against a Premier League newcomer, a Champions League newcomer, and a Roma side that surrendered a two-goal cushion, not for the first time in four Champions League games this season.
Individual errors have played a major part in the change in the twisted fortunes of a team expected to challenge for the Premier League title this season, and that alone is enough to frustrate an inexperienced coach.
And that is where the cookies crumble on Michael Carrick’s reign as Manchester United coach. The players will resume to the stewardship of another tactician, likely Mauricio Pochettino, when they return from their respective international assignments.
For the future, Michael Carrick will be left to wonder where things went wrong. But that question is not new to him, because his beautiful story at Middlesbrough also came to an end with the team going down the curve.
