Michael Carrick says pointless to focus on viral trend as it “won’t have an impact”
Manchester United face West Ham on Tuesday, but while a win for the Red Devils would mean five wins in a row and a hugely positive step towards Champions League qualification, ultimately the conversation around the match will be dominated by hair.
Oxford-born but Spain-based United fan Frank Illet has gone 16 months (492 days) without cutting his hair, due to a challenge to only cut it if United win five games in a row.
United have won four in a row under interim coach Michael Carrick and face West Ham on Tuesday. A win at the London stadium would secure five wins in a row for United, the first time since February 2024 – exactly two years.
If they do, Illet will finally let loose. Of course the flip side to that is if United end up having a bad hair day (pun intended) in London, the viral story continues.
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Carrick has admitted he is aware of the trend but insisted it has no room in the team’s thinking.
“I can say I’m aware of it, yeah,” Carrick said. “My kids have made me aware of it, if anything, but it certainly won’t go into the team talk from a professional level.
“I can understand what’s going on with it and it does make me smile but it won’t have an impact ultimately in the end.”
The manager said United should feed off the atmosphere they have generated with their positive performances in recent weeks as they face Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
“You definitely take the confidence and the feeling from the games that you’ve had knowing you can go into the next game with a little bit more feel-good factor about it,” Carrick said.
“I guess the big challenge is knowing what’s got you there and all the hard work and the preparation and then what it takes to win a game of football at this level is tough, so never assuming the next one’s just going to be alright.”
Carrick revealed that injured players Mattijs de Ligt and Mason Mount had not recovered enough to be available for West Ham, but that Mount is ahead of the former in his recovery and could be available for the next game against Everton on 23 February.
“Mason will be probably not for Tuesday, probably after, but definitely going into the Everton game, yeah, he’ll be back,” Carrick said.
“Matthijs, we’ll see how he develops over the Everton game. It feels like a long time away at the moment, so we’ll see how he develops, but he’s positive. He’s moving in the right direction, but Mason’s a little bit closer than him.”
How and when did Frank Illet’s hair challenge begin?
Illet’s challenge began on 5 October 2024. “It just started as a bit of fun, really,” Illett told Sky Sports. “I thought it would be a fun thing to do, to bring some humour into what was a painful time for Manchester United fans.
“My intention was never to highlight the flaws of Man United, but to spread positivity and humour.”
