KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Michael Carrick has been asked to achieve, in four short months, the task which proved beyond Erik ten Hag and then Ruben Amorim, and bring stability and hope back to Manchester United.

The former United, Tottenham and England midfielder knows all about the size of the challenge. Carrick, 44, has already been caretaker boss for three matches back in 2022. ‘His United beat Arsenal and Villarreal and drew with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

This time he starts with the advantage of a team sitting a reasonable seventh in the Premier League table but with the disadvantage of kicking off in the Manchester derby against a second-placed City team 11 points above them and buoyed by Tuesday’s 1:0 win at Newcastle in their League Cup semi-final first leg.

Carrick is contracted until the end of the season with a new backroom team which  includes his old aide Jonathan Woodgate and the former England No2 Steve Holland. Jonny Evans, the former United defender who recently quit as the club’s head of loans and pathways, will return while Travis Binnion steps up from his role as under-21s coach.

Holland worked under Gareth Southgate when England finished fourth at the 2018 World Cup and were runners-up at Euro 2021 and 2024.

Darren Fletcher, caretaker for two matches after Amorim’s sacking, reverts to his role as manager of the under-18s.

Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox preferred Carrick ahead of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after both men met the United hierarchy last week. Carrick, who spent 12 years at Old Trafford as a player, has been out of work since June after being sacked by second-tier Middlesbrough. His advantage was in being more of a training ground, hands-on coach than Solskjaer.

Unlike Amorim, whose obsession with 3-4-3 proved fatal, Carrick places importance on possession with a 4-2-3-1 set-up,

He said: “It’s an unbelieveble feeling to come back through the doors and be part of the club again. It’s a big responsibility, a massive pleasure and a privilege to be here but we want to do a good job. This place deserves that. I want to enjoy watching the boys play but results obviously need to come with that.”

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