Former captain warns club not to “overlook” their best option
Wayne Rooney has backed Michael Carrick as the most sensible choice for the club as permanent head coach in the summer.
Carrick took charge of the club in January, after Ruben Amorim’s dismissal and Darren Fletcher’s short stint as caretaker, and has won four of his five games played and restored much confidence to the side.
However, opinion is torn over whether he should be trusted with the job on a permanent basis. On the one hand, the club are scarred by the decision to entrust Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the job in 2019 after a successful few weeks as interim, the rest of his tenure ultimately underwhelming.
On the other hand, supporters claim the two cases are different and that Carrick should be in the running if he continues at his current trajectory to the end of the season.
It is difficult to tell what the correct decision is and very few will envy United’s decision makers from now till the summer. Carrick has also recently become one of the favourites for the job, but his current impact at the club may well be part of a new manager bounce that will ultimately regress to the mean.
The 44-year-old also impressed when he first took over Middlesbrough, before performances dropped and then flatlined for the next two seasons, before he was ultimately dismissed in June 2025.
“The infrastructure will be back at the football club!” 🤝@WayneRooney on Michael Carrick’s positive start to life at Man United! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/Tl412ebKOK
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) February 17, 2026
However, Rooney is throwing his weight behind Carrick. The former United captain told the Overlap: “We’ve been there and tried different managers – [Jose] Mourinho, [Louis] van Gaal, [Erik] ten Hag and [Ruben] Amorim – and for me Carrick makes sense.
“Not because we’ve played together and we’re friends, but because he is a real calming influence. Having someone there who knows the club and cares for the club makes a big difference. Michael is managing the whole squad and managing them well.
“The players who are starting, they’re fine, you don’t have to manage them, but the other lads – we’ve seen the impact on [Matheus] Cunha, [Benjamin] Sesko, [Harry] Maguire, [Lisandro] Martinez. He’s having an impact on the whole squad and football club.
“Sometimes we’re quick to overlook what’s right there in front of you and say we’ve got this manager from Turkey or from Spain, who is going to come in and do this, when they have no interest in the football club.
“At least [appointing Carrick] will give the foundations for the club to keep building, when in two or three years’ time the infrastructure will be back at the club.”
