Michael Carrick has disclosed that Ole Gunnar Solskjær has been fully supportive of his appointment as Manchester United's interim head coach. The two former teammates, who played together at United during the 2006-07 season, share a close friendship. Carrick was part of Solskjær's coaching staff during the Norwegian's tenure as caretaker and permanent manager from December 2018 to November 2021.
After Solskjær was sacked, Carrick managed United for three games before departing when Ralf Rangnick took over, citing loyalty to Solskjær as a factor. Speaking about their recent conversation, Carrick said: 'Yes, I spoke to him. I'm close, we've been through a lot together, so he's been fully supportive as you'd expect. He's some man and I respect him an awful lot. He wished us all the best and he was happy that we got the right result against Manchester City.'
When asked if he might seek advice from Solskjær, Carrick replied: 'With friendships, you have conversations. I've got a lot of friends in places that I can kind of pick on if I need to be. I'm not one that bothers a lot of people, to be honest. But he's certainly there if I ever need him.'
Carrick's first match in charge ended in a victory over Manchester City at Old Trafford, with United playing proactively. Looking ahead to Sunday's 4.30pm GMT kick-off against Arsenal, Carrick suggested the approach might differ. 'Every game's different. Even if you come in half-time and you've had a good performance for 45 minutes, I'm never one that likes to say: Same again. Because it's never, ever the same again. You've kind of got to build on it,' he said.
'So it won't be a kind of copy and paste. There's new elements that need to come into it. We need to be ready, be at our best. And if we are our best and we're there, we feel we've got a good chance. It's just about playing what we feel the game needs.'
Patrick Dorgu, who scored United's second goal against City while operating as a wide attacker, has played mostly as a wingback since signing last January. Carrick praised his versatility, saying: 'He can do both. He was immense last week: his work rate and the way he played the position. I wouldn't want to pin him down.'
