Michael Carrick Aims for Premier League Glory at Manchester United
Michael Carrick has his eyes on Europe’s elite again, but the horizon at Old Trafford is set far higher than a top-four scramble.
The Manchester United manager, a five-time Premier League winner in his playing days, is trying to drag the club back towards the summit he once patrolled from midfield. The long-term vision is clear: a first league title since 2013, ideally in time to crown the club’s 150th anniversary in 2028. The short-term demand is just as blunt – qualify for the Champions League and keep climbing.
Carrick knows the size of the leap.
He was in the dressing room for United’s last Premier League triumph under Sir Alex Ferguson. Thirteen years on, he accepts that adding a 21st title this season would be a “jump”, but he refuses to rule it out for this squad.
“We want to evolve as a team,” said Carrick, now permanent head coach after being confirmed in May, as he prepared for Saturday lunchtime’s trip to promoted Hull.
“We’ve got a lot of younger players in the group that we want to help move forward individually, which collectively will move us in a good direction.”
He leans heavily on the power of habit. Winning as a routine, not a surprise.
“The experiences that they’ve had, the habit in getting used to feeling what it’s like to win a number of games is huge,” he said. “It’s huge for players at this club to feel it and know what it takes, first of all, and what you’ve got to put into it to get out the other end.”
The targets are laid out without dressing.
“Yes, we want to be finishing in the Champions League again without doubt. It’s a challenge, it’s a big challenge. There’s a lot of teams fighting for that position and we managed to do that last season and we’ve got to aim to do the same and then keep pushing on through the season to see how it develops.”
Carrick guided United to third after taking over in difficult circumstances in January. That late surge has hardened his expectations.
“We want to start strong, we want to get through the winter months and we want to be strong and we want to finish strong,” he said. “So it’s putting it all together and then see where we end up but we’re going into it with a lot of encouragement.”
Midfield at the heart of the rebuild
If United are to turn encouragement into something more tangible, the answers are likely to come from the middle of the pitch.
The midfield has been stripped and rewired. Casemiro, once the anchor, has gone. Manuel Ugarte is sidelined. In their place, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos have arrived to thicken the core, while the club are working on a £70m move for Brighton’s Carlos Baleba to add another piece to the puzzle.
Carrick insists the squad already carries a “really good balance”, but he is still searching for more quality and more control.
“I think it gives you the foundation of the team,” he said of the midfield’s importance. “I think the foundation of the team is important to be consistent, to be consistent through one game from start to finish, to be consistent over a period of time.”
He wants a spine that doesn’t bend when the season turns cold.
“You need a solid foundation through the middle of the team and trying putting it together and getting that balance,” he explained. “If you look at all the top teams over the years, all the great teams over the years, the spine of the team is really strong, so we’re conscious of that and I think we’ve got a good spine of the team right now.”
Carrick speaks like a man who spent his career dictating games from that very area. Now, his influence comes from the touchline.
“We can keep improving as we go in different ways and coaching and helping the boys and developing them,” he added. “And I think we’re in a good place.”
A good place, but not the peak. The question that now hangs over Old Trafford is simple: can this new spine carry United all the way back to the top?
