Michael Carrick shows true colours with five-word message to Man Utd dressing room | Football | Sport

Michael Carrick has been drilling a five-word message into his Manchester United players that sums up his approach to management. The former Red Devils midfielder has enjoyed a perfect start to his reign since being appointed on an interim basis until the end of the season. He started in the best possible way with victory in the Manchester derby before masterminding a dramatic victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Carrick maintained his 100 per cent record over the weekend as United struck late to beat Fulham in a five-goal thriller at Old Trafford. The result saw them remain in the Premier League’s top four, one point ahead of Chelsea in fifth place. Carrick’s positive start has helped to instil a feel-good factor within his squad and that is partly down to a repeated message to his players.

According to The Athletic, the 44-year-old has been constantly telling his squad that ‘this is only the start’. It’s claimed that Carrick knows he is currently in a honeymoon period and the mood could change at any time.

As a result, he isn’t allowing himself or his players to get carried away despite their impressive recent form. It’s a wise strategy, given just how volatile United have been since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson over a decade ago.

The report adds that Carrick has impressed United’s hierarchy with his sense of calm, his collaborative approach and the authority he has quietly commanded.

He is an entirely different character from the managers that came before him, with the likes of Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim often going public to air their grievances or dig out players.

Carrick, however, is carving his own path in that regard. He has been taking a low-key approach to his media duties and doesn’t need the same level of micromanagement from the top as some of his predecessors.

After only a few weeks, he has managed to get everybody pulling in the same direction, with Harry Maguire among those to have been left impressed by Carrick’s style of leadership, including his hands-on approach in training.

Speaking on a recent episode on the Inside Carrington podcast, Maguire said: “He still does demos in passing drills and he still bangs it through the lines like he’s still got it.

“He was doing the demos the other day, and I think he did two passes. Everyone did about 300. I think his two were the best I’ve seen out of them all! But no, he’s still got it and he’s really hands-on in training.

“Also, you’ve got Steve [Holland] as well there. When I was working with Steve at England, he was really hands-on in terms of taking most of the training sessions. So you’ve got two coaches there who like to get involved and I think it’s really good.

“I knew he would do that just from the experience of knowing Michael and also knowing the way that he coached when he was here under Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer].

“He spoke really, really well in the dressing room when he spoke back then and he was really just new into coaching then, so I had no surprises when he came in and the way that he spoke in his first meeting and the way the sessions have gone.

“And I do think that he’s got a great, great staff with him in terms of they’re all on the same page and I’ve been really impressed with him.”