Inside the life of Man United's interim manager Michael Carrick

Michael Carrick's worst day on a football pitch took him two years to get over.

The ever-reliable, chronically underrated defensive midfielder rose to head the ball inside the Stadio Olimpico. It was loose, but not careless. Not dangerous. Yet this was Barcelona at the peak of their powers and, within seconds, Andres Iniesta had carried possession from the centre circle to the edge of the box, feeding Samuel Eto'o to stab the ball past Edwin van der Sar and put Man United behind in the Champions League final inside 10 minutes.

Lionel Messi doubled the lead in the second-half and, with that, United's European crown had been ruthlessly ripped away. The holders were outplayed, overwhelmed even, by Pep Guardiola's stylish new Barcelona side.

Carrick's Champions League triumph in 2008 was one of 18 major honours he collected across 464 appearances for United. But it was that night, that evening in Rome when he didn't win, that stuck with him.

'It was the biggest low of my career by quite some way and I don't really know why,' Carrick told The Times in 2018. 'I thought I'd let myself down in the biggest game of my career. I had won the Champions League the year before, but that was totally irrelevant.'

For more than a decade Carrick was the beating heart of the United midfield. But for two years, the seemingly unshakeable force was plunged into a depression he couldn't tell his most of his family, friends or team-mates about - all because of one misplaced header.

'I kept it to myself most of the time,' he continued. 'Even my family didn't know the full extent of it.

Now 44, Carrick said it truly came to a head during England's disappointing 2010 World Cup in South Africa. 

'It was my dream to be at a World Cup but the truth is I didn't want to be there. I wanted to be at home,' he admitted.

The midfielder wouldn't start to feel like himself again until United's Champions League quarter final win over Chelsea in April 2011. Only his parents, his brother Graeme and his wife Lisa knew about his struggles.

'It's not something that's really spoken about in football. I have not spoken about it before. For the lads that I have played with that are reading this, this will be the first time that they know [about the depression]. They wouldn't know.' 

Carrick has always been an honest communicator, so it is no surprise that he has charmed United's chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox over the past week.

Now poised to take the United job until the end of the season, Carrick is tasked with igniting an underwhelming season that has already seen United knocked out of the FA Cup, EFL Cup and well short of competing in the Premier League.

The former England international has been here before. Not only has he played for the club during their trophy-laden years but he has also stood in the dugout as caretaker manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 2021 departure and before the arrival of Ralf Rangnick. 

Make your 7 picks by 12.30pm every Saturday to win £1,000*

Manchester United

Sat Jan 1711:30

V

Manchester City

*18+, excludes NI. Terms and conditions apply

He will also be prepared to take criticism from his old team-mates and United legends, many of whom dominate Britain's punditry landscape.

During his playing days, Carrick was ushered in front of the TV camera's following United's 2-0 defeat away to Olympiacos in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 in 2014.

But when he refused to blame any of his team-mates, or the manager for the horror show in Greece, Carrick was met with the wrath of Roy Keane - who left the club shortly before he arrived.

'[Carrick's] interview was just like the performance: flat. He should say a bit more, have a bit more urgency even in his interview,' the Irishman fumed at the time.

'That just reflected United's performance tonight: flat, with no urgency. They keep saying, 'Ah, well, next game, next game'. For some of them there won't be another game for them. That's the reality.'

Such was the frenzy that had been whipped around United's defeat that Carrick's wife Lisa fought back on Twitter - now known as X - with an incendiary post about Keane.

She wrote: 'Roy Keane what a **** says anything to provoke a reaction..That's all..Done.' 

While the tweet was swiftly deleted once it had gone viral, Lisa's words proved how staunchly she supports her husband. 

The pair - who wedded in 2007 - have two children together, one of whom, Jacey, plays for United's youth teams alongside Wayne Rooney's son Kai.

Lisa also serves as vice chair for the Michael Carrick Foundation, which 'strives to create empowering opportunities' for young people across Greater Manchester and the North East of England.

Carrick set up the foundation in 2017, the year before he announced his retirement from United, and donated proceeds from his book - in which he opened up about his depression - to the charity.

His final season at United proved to be a significant year in his life. He had to undergo a secret procedure for an irregular heart rhythm, and learned from one of the greatest managers of all time in Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho had offered Carrick a contract when Louis van Gaal left Old Trafford under a cloud. He also gave the Englishman months to recover from the heart surgery and then promoted him to the backroom staff of his coaching team.

Carrick said working with the Portuguese, where he and Kieran McKenna were promoted to assistant coaches, was like 'gold dust'.

Despite admitting he did not know if he would ever make it as a manager, Carrick's importance behind the scenes only grew and, after Mourinho's sacking, he was retained as part of Solskjaer's coaching team. 

Daily Mail Sport revealed last week that the Norwegian and Carrick were locked in a two-way fight for the United job this time around. The Englishman would have been happy to rejoin Solskjaer's staff had he missed out on the top role. 

It has been a tumultous decade for United and so, Solskjaer was sacked and Carrick took caretaker role before the arrival of Rangnick. Of the current United squad, he worked with Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Amad, and Tom Heaton.

Carrick hailed the importance of Fernandes in his three matches in charge of United, which included a 2-0 away win to Villareal in the Champions League, a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and a 3-2 home win over Arsenal.

'I like Bruno. I worked with him with Ole and he's fantastic,' the Englishman old the Rio Ferdinand Podcast.

'He's desperate to do well. He's so keen to do well, and that's a really positive thing.

'And then sometimes, you can overdo it sometimes as well, and it's such a fine balance. But his attitude, he plays every game, he never misses training, and he's there all the time.

'Puts himself out there, puts himself forward, and he's been the main man, really, the talisman for some time. And when there's moments or there's something that's needed, Bruno's been the one to step up. I really enjoyed working with him when I did. He asks questions, he's demanding, but he wants to do the right thing.'

Carrick also came in from yet more criticism from Keane during his caretaker spell the first time around after saying he was 'proud of the players' after United's draw with Chelsea.

'I disagree with everything he said in that interview,' Keane said on Sky Sports at the time. 'He's talking about a plan. He's talking of his players' efforts, he's proud of them.

'So is that just on Ole? What plans were they doing last few months before Liverpool at home, Man City and Watford? Have the plans only started this week?

'He was in the dugout with Ole and all of a sudden he's proud of them and they had a plan.'

Despite the criticism from Keane, Carrick's stock had risen and he was appointed Middlesbrough manager in October 2022, replacing Chris Wilder with the club languishing in the relegation zone. 

After losing his first game in charge, Carrick oversaw an impressive run of eight wins from the next nine and eventually guided Boro to the play-offs. 

Alongside assistants Jonathan Woodgate and brother Graeme, he also took Middlesbrough to the League Cup semi-finals the following season, beating Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg before capitulating away from home.  

He was sacked last summer after a 10th-placed finish, but his spell at the Riverside Stadium is remembered fondly for galvanising a low-confidence squad and implementing an attacking 4-2-3-1 system. 

Carrick had hoped to lead Boro to the Premier League, but a post-season review prompted the club to part ways. He has since made sporadic appearances as a pundit.

Now, his remit at United will be simple: qualification for European football is a must. 

First up? Manchester City at Old Trafford. It doesn't get much bigger than that.