When Gareth Southgate’s future as England manager was up for debate after the World Cup, one of the issues was the lack of realistic homegrown replacements.
Graham Potter and Eddie Howe are otherwise engaged. Of the crop of former players being encouraged into management, neither Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard have shown enough to suggest they are entirely convincing candidates.
So who is the next English cab off the rank? Perhaps Michael Carrick, overseeing a quiet revolution at Middlesbrough, is one to watch.
He has made a near flawless start in his first full-time managerial posting, taking Boro from 22nd in the Championship when he took over, to fifth ahead of Saturday’s game against Millwall. This is how.
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When he was introduced to the media back in October, many of the introductory questions were about who he would bring in to impact his struggling Boro squad. But Carrick has improved the squad he inherited, coaxing performances from players with his “arm around the shoulder” management style.
“He is an outstanding coach,” one source who has witnessed his work tells i. “He really taps into the modern player’s mentality. He’s big on simplicity of message and gets it across so well.”
At Manchester United as interim boss he squeezed the best run of form out of Jadon Sancho; at Boro it has been Chuba Akpom, the striker who started life at Arsenal. He has been moved into a deeper role and is now on 13 goals from 19 games and attracting interest from Premier League clubs.
Sense of calm
“Everything is just so harmonious and unified,” a senior Boro source says of the mood at Rockcliffe Park, Middlesbrough’s training ground. That is in stark contrast to the tumult of the later days of the Chris Wilder era, when the manager flirted with taking over at other clubs and disagreements over recruitment hampered efforts to modernise the scouting structure.
Wilder’s intransigence pushed director of football Kieran Scott to the fringes. Carrick, despite arriving with a huge reputation from his playing career, signalled a willingness to collaborate with Scott on signings.
His humility – he willingly accepted the head coach title, despite claims he wanted more control – has enabled healthier working relationships to blossom.
He carries an air of authority that extends to his demeanour on the touchline, where he rarely gets overly emotional. He believes that sends a message to his players about control and that even extends to his press conferences, where he admits – and even makes a virtue – out of being “boring”. Picking fights in public is not his style.
Big decisions
Ask Carrick what he’s done to change things and he’ll answer modestly: “Tweaks”.
But among the positional changes he’s also shown some steel. As you’d expect from a man who worked under Jose Mourinho, he has not shied away from the tough calls and has made some bold calls.
Marquee summer loan signing Rodrigo Muniz, who Boro felt would be a revelation in the second tier, has been dropped and looks set to return to Fulham.
He’s promoted youth like midfielder Hayden Hackney and stayed true to his word that players who are good enough are old enough to feature in his side.
Tactically astute
Carrick spent time after his Manchester United interim spell visiting clubs to observe how different managers work. He went to work with the Football Association and Gareth Southgate was one of the men who provided a glowing reference to owner Steve Gibson, along with Bryan Robson and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Tactically, he has been hugely impressive and it’s clear has done the hard yards with Manchester United’s underage and academy sides to develop a philosophy. Carrick bristles at attempts to label his preferred formation and when you watch his team you can see why.
It’s nominally a 4-2-3-1 but he wants his players to be fluid. Left-back Ryan Giles, on loan from Wolves, is encouraged to bomb on and in attack, players know to tuck in and it can often look more like three at the back. Australia international Riley McGree has been a revelation in a free role.
Possession and pressing are key. Still, Carrick is not stubborn about the way he expects his teams to play, delighting in an attritional win at Norwich recently because it proved they were “capable of standing up to a different kind of challenge”.
Employing the right people
Eyebrows were raised when Carrick drafted in Jonathan Woodgate as his right hand man rather than a more experienced assistant. The journeyed Mike Phelan was mentioned in initial negotiations and Woodgate’s presence, given he was in charge at the club as recently as 2020, was seen as a compromise.
But around the training ground they have been impressed by Woodgate’s work. He has taken responsibility for Boro’s defence, partnering out-of-favour Dael Fry and Darragh Lenihan in a back four that has impressed. Carrick hasn’t been afraid to surround himself with big characters, instead actively seeking their counsel.
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