Manchester United are leaning towards making an external managerial appointment despite Michael Carrick’s impressive return to Old Trafford.
United have taken 13 points out of a possible 15 since Carrick was appointed caretaker manager last month, winning 4 games in a row before Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with West Ham.
Manchester United were sixth within the Premier League after they decided to drag the plug on former boss Ruben Amorim, who had a disappointing 14-month reign.
While that represented a marked improvement on a team that finished fifteenth last season, United were still struggling for consistency, exiting each domestic cup competitions on the earliest possible stage.
It was not only underwhelming performances that cost Amorim his job but in addition his public criticism of those above him at Old Trafford in the times resulting in his sacking.
Champions League qualification appeared unlikely on the time of Amorim’s departure but Carrick has taken the Red Devils back into the top-four.
Carrick’s tenure as caretaker manager began with impressive wins over title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal, before United beat Fulham and Tottenham.
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Manchester United weren’t at their best against West Ham but Benjamin Sesko’s injury-time equaliser maintained Carrick’s unbeaten record.
Carrick’s return to Old Trafford was initially only expected to be temporary, with United all the time planning to make a everlasting appointment at the tip of the season.
But United’s good form under the ex-midfielder has led to calls for Carrick to be named as Amorim’s full-time substitute.
England legend Wayne Rooney, for instance, has suggested Carrick will change into ‘unimaginable’ to disregard if United’s current form continues until the tip of the season.
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But in accordance with Sky Sports, Manchester United usually are not accelerating their plans to appoint a brand new manager and still don’t view Carrick because the favourite for the job.
The likes of Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti, Mauricio Pochettino, Oliver Glasner, Luis Enrique and Roberto De Zerbi have all been linked with United since Amorim’s sacking.
The Manchester Evening News claim England boss Tuchel is emerging because the ‘preferred selection’ of Old Trafford decision-makers.
Tuchel took charge of the Three Lions last 12 months but is simply contracted to England until after this summer’s World Cup, meaning he’ll likely be available come July.
Before becoming England manager, Tuchel had spells at Bayern Munich, PSG, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea, where he won the Champions League and Club World Cup.
While much could change before the tip of the season, overlooking Carrick could be fairly surprising as he already appears to have the backing of the United squad.
Captain Bruno Fernandes has repeatedly praised the previous England midfielder since he took over and goalkeeper Senne Lammens followed suit after the West Ham draw.
‘We could be completely happy with the primary five games with him as a coach,’ Amorim’s £18m summer signing said.
Gary Neville reveals Man Utd’s ‘official position’ on manager search
‘I actually spoke to the club, because ultimately the club get asked on a regular basis from journalists and broadcasters, what’s the position of the club.
‘It’s a really difficult situation, you’ve got a large movement now with what’s happened towards giving Carrick the job, saying that actually he needs to be considered.
‘That’s only going to construct the more that he wins and the more that he gets closer to Champions League football. I asked the club what’s the official position of the football club by way of what you’re saying publicly to everybody else.
‘I actually have to say I believed their answer was pretty good. They said they’ve actually begun the method now, beginning to look for one more manager, which I believed right.
‘It’s a really difficult situation, you’ve got a large movement now with what’s happened towards giving Carrick the job, saying that actually he needs to be considered.
‘That’s only going to construct the more that he wins and the more that he gets closer to Champions League football. That’s good to listen to because it’s worthwhile to plan for all the pieces.
‘They’ve began the technique of chatting with and looking out at other managers, constructing all of the kinds of data and analysing who needs to be the following manager of the football club.
‘But what they’ve said is that they’re not going to be bounced into – no matter wins or draws or losses on the pitch on this next couple of months – making an appointment.
‘They’re going to attend until towards the tip of the season.’
‘The West Ham result was just a little bit disappointing because we desired to proceed winning and now, being two weeks with no game, we desired to go in that period with feeling.
‘Nevertheless it’s just a little bit less bad because we scored at the tip. One in every of his [Carrick’s] strong suits is communication, being clear about what he wants. We knew what we needed to do and executed the plan.
‘Man City and Arsenal were different sorts of games because we didn’t really need to make it ourselves.
‘It was more about being compact, playing from the counter and creating probabilities, which is certainly one of our strong suits. We all know we will do well against those teams.
‘Against Fulham and Tottenham we needed to play more of our game. It was not all the time the prettiest, however the result was there, which is a very powerful thing, and something we haven’t really done all season.’
On account of being knocked out of the FA Cup by Brighton, Manchester United have almost two weeks off before they return to Premier League motion on February 23 against Everton.
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