Is Michael Carrick really a top coach? Middlesbrough boss can make himself a candidate for Erik ten Hag's job at Man Utd by dumping Chelsea out of the Carabao Cup

Carrick landed his first permanent head coaching role at the Riverside back in October 2022, inheriting a side languishing down in 21st in the Championship with just two wins from 11 games. The former England and Manchester United midfielder lost his opening game against Preston North End, but he then guided Boro to 16 wins from their next 22 matches, lifting them to third in the table.

A spot in the play-offs was eventually secured, and although Carrick's men went on to lose their semi-final tie against Coventry City 1-0 on aggregate, there was a real sense that something special was brewing on Teesside. Boro fans had very little to cheer about during Chris Wilder's ill-fated 11-month spell at the club, but Carrick transformed them into the second-best attacking side in the division, with a total of 84 goals scored by the end of their 2022-23 Championship season.

“It’s entertaining,” Boro captain Jonny Howson told The Athletic last May. “We attack, create, score and control possession. That’s the way Michael played the game." Chuba Akpom, who scored 28 goals to clinch the Golden Boot in the second tier last term, was even more effusive in his praise of Carrick.

“He’s the manager I’ve been dreaming of my whole career,” Akpom, whose form earned him a summer transfer to Ajax, said. “I want to fight for the manager because he’s shown so much trust and confidence in me. He came in and put me in the No.10 role and gave me the licence to roam around. I go right to left; he gave me the freedom to express myself and I appreciate that so much.”

Unfortunately, Boro were unable to kick on at the start of the current campaign. Carrick was hampered by the loss of Akpom, while Boro were also unable to negotiate a permanent transfer for talismanic loanee forward Cameron Archer. Boro plummeted to the bottom of the Championship with just two points and two goals scored across their opening seven games. Carrick had lost his most dangerous attacking duo, and Boro were also struggling for any kind of cohesion at the back.

It would have been very easy to panic, especially as critics started to question whether Carrick's lack of experience was beginning to outweigh his obvious talent. But the 42-year-old remained calm and backed his players, with everything falling into place after a disappointing 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday on September 19.

A run of seven wins from their next nine games took Boro to within two points of the play-off places, with summer signing Rav van den Berg among those to credit Carrick for turning the situation around. “The gaffer was never screaming at us," the 19-year-old defender said. "He just wanted to help us – never negative, only positive. I think that was amazing, and the right approach."

The festive period didn't run quite so smoothly for Boro as they fell to another five defeats, including a 1-0 home loss to Coventry on New Year's Day, but upsetting Chelsea gave them a fresh injection of confidence. A hard-earned 3-1 win at Millwall then took Boro back to within touching distance of the play-offs, and Carrick is optimistic that a strong second half of the season is on that cards.

“Even when you aren’t getting results you can be performing really well, feel good and know it’s coming right,” he recently told reporters. “There are always ups and downs, but it’s about sticking to your beliefs and principles.”

A lot of managers in the modern era get bogged down in tactics, with Pep Guardiola having initially inspired a shift in the general school of thought when implementing his 'tiki-taka' philosophy at Barcelona. It's now trendy to attack with inverted full-backs and defend by pressing high up the pitch, but Carrick is old school, and favours the more direct approach that saw him enjoy so much success as a player under Sir Alex Ferguson at United.

“I enjoy playing football a certain way,” he said in the build up to Boro's first-leg clash with Chelsea. “I’m not about formations, particularly. You have to express yourself, players have to try things.” Carrick decided what kind of manager he wanted to be far earlier, though.

He was appointed United's assistant back in 2018, and initially worked alongside Jose Mourinho, who insisted he had "all the qualities to be a good coach". Mourinho was sacked in December that year, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer drafted in as his replacement, and together he and Carrick turned United back into a free flowing, attack-minded outfit.

Before the start of Solskjaer's second full season at the helm, Carrick sat down with the FA to offer a wider insight into his methods, which would ultimately help the Red Devils rise to second in the Premier League in 2020-21. “Spaces to attack is really my main focus when watching the games,” he said. “Whether that’s looking at: how to attack when the goalkeeper has the ball, where the space is and how we can build-up through the pitch.

“It’s also about having an idea of how we can hurt the opposition from all areas of the pitch. That’s my first thought, really. My instinct takes me to that. Within that, there is observing the general game: how the opposition set up and what their strengths are.”

United looked poised to challenge for the title in the 2021-22 summer window after signing Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, and optimism around Old Trafford skyrocketed when Solskjaer managed to broker a deadline-day deal for Cristiano Ronaldo. The return of the Portugal striker came somewhat out of the blue, as the Red Devils reportedly swooped in to prevent him from joining their arch-rivals Manchester City, but he made an immediate impact by scoring twice in a 4-1 home win over Newcastle.

Ronaldo kept delivering the goals thereafter, but it soon became clear that United had altered their style to accommodate a 36-year-old who was no longer physically able to press and get involved in the build-up play for a full 90 minutes. Results inevitably took a turn for the worse, and Solskjaer was dismissed in November 2021, with Carrick stepping up to fill his seat in the dugout on a caretaker basis.

The change seemed to have the desired effect initially, as Carrick oversaw a 2-0 win away at Villarreal in the Champions League before a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. He took the bold decision to drop Ronaldo for the clash with the Blues, but restored the striker to the starting XI for a huge clash against Arsenal.

Ronaldo scored twice as United earned a 3-2 victory, after which Carrick announced his decision to leave Old Trafford ahead of Ralf Rangnick's arrival as interim head coach. "I thought it was the right thing to do for the club and for Ralf. I'm quite happy with that," Carrick said. "The loyalty to Ole is a little bit of a factor, but there were a lot of things that came into my decision."

Carrick showed a lot of bravery to leave United after so many years of dedicated service as a player and coach, backing himself to carve out his own unique reputation as a manager instead of remaining in his comfort zone. And in an interview with The Athletic last year, Solskjaer revealed that Carrick actually turned down the chance to manage the Red Devils all the way through to the end of the season.

“I love him as a person, but while he never said anything to me about it, the day I got booted, I went to see him and said: ‘I’m gone, they want you to take over.’ I told him that I wanted him to do it," admitted the Norwegian. "After 10 days, Michael came to me and said: ‘I don’t want to do this.’ We were in it together and we were no longer together."

Solskjaer also expressed his belief that Carrick would one day return to United as permanent manager, insisting he has the expertise and temperament to be a success. “Michael is a man of value and principles, a big family man, but his knowledge is also second to none," Solskjaer added. "He’s had Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho as managers, and he’s played with the best players in the world. He’s a winner, but he’s still in control of his emotions. I cannot see him not being the Manchester United manager.

“At United, I’d sometimes see Michael talk to the players. Some of these were ex-team-mates of his which isn’t easy, but he had an authority about him. I am 100 percent sure that Michael will be the manager of Manchester United if he wants to be."

The opportunity could arise sooner than expected for Carrick, who has been mooted as a potential replacement for Ten Hag. United appear to be heading backwards under the Dutchman and only have the FA Cup left to play for this season, with a top-four finish in the Premier League already looking out of reach.

There are a host of top managers also reportedly in the frame, including the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte, but Carrick's knowledge of the inner-workings at Old Trafford may just give him an advantage. The same is true for Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna, who was also part of Solskjaer's coaching staff at United, but appointing the slightly-less experienced Irishman over Carrick would represent a bigger gamble.

The only question is: has Carrick done enough to prove he is a top coach in his 14-month spell at the Riverside?

If applying the old adage 'you're only as good as you're last game', then the jury remains out on Carrick's credentials. Boro missed the chance to move up to eighth in the Championship table after being held to a 1-1 draw by rock-bottom Rotherham on Saturday, and Carrick had Marcus Forss to thank for bailing him out with a late equaliser.

Boro did not look like a side capable of winning promotion to the Premier League, but they were once again dealt an unfortunate hand with injuries. Howson missed the Rotherham game after suffering a knock in training, while Jones limped off in the first half with a hamstring problem.

Carrick has admitted that both players are doubts for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie against Chelsea on Tuesday, and it will be a huge ask for Boro to protect their slender advantage without their captain and star wing-back. There will no doubt be a temptation to sit back and absorb pressure, but Carrick has vowed not to be over-defensive.

"It's a tough balance to get, of course, but we're treating it like every other game we go into, we're treating it to try to win the game," he said after the Rotherham draw. "Chelsea will bring what they're going to bring and it's about us controlling what we can."

Throughout his playing career, Carrick was honest, hard-working and humble. He was one of the most technically-gifted members of Ferguson's all-star final squad at United, and often made the difference in tight games, but never got the same amount of credit as some of his more flashy, outspoken team-mates.

As a manager, Carrick is going under the radar in a similar way, and still has a long way to go before he can be considered among the elite of his new profession. But his potential is undeniable, and if he can lead Middlesbrough past Chelsea and go on to deliver the club's first trophy since 2004, he might just be trusted to oversee a new era at Old Trafford.