18 Oct 2026 09:49:32
A Middlesbrough fan on why they saw Michael Carrick's struggles at Manchester United coming:
"When Carrick was at Middlesbrough, he came in mid-season when we were struggling under Chris Wilder. He took over and immediately got the players doing the basics well. He inspired them, and we saw the same at Manchester United.
He made the simple things happen, put the right players in the right positions, and for a while it worked. But once teams figured out his approach, the problems became obvious.
People at Boro had already talked about his inability to adapt. I don't necessarily believe in needing a Plan B, but there are times you have to react to what's happening on the pitch. Carrick doesn't seem capable of that.
Look at his subs. It's like the 62nd minute comes, an alarm goes off on his wrist, and he knows it's time to make a change. But it's always like-for-like—no tactical tweaks, no change in shape, nothing different.
And now we're seeing the same pattern at Manchester United. Did we predict this drop-off? Absolutely. We joked about it when he was doing well and got the permanent deal. Even Boro fans were saying, 'just watch what happens when teams figure him out.'
He's stubborn. He sticks to what he believes in, no matter what others think. His press conferences would sometimes leave Boro fans wondering if he was watching the same game. To the fans, it was obvious something different was needed, but he struggled to adapt.
18 Oct 2026 10:29:52
It's exactly what we see.