Carrick admitted United was the only job he'd take as pressure mounts after winless run

Michael Carrick privately told Nicky Butt he was reluctant to return to football management before accepting the Manchester United head coach role in January 2026 — a revelation that lands with fresh significance as United sit 13th in the Premier League after a difficult start to the 2026/27 season.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football, Butt recalled a conversation he had with Carrick before the 45-year-old was appointed Ruben Amorim’s successor on an interim basis. “I was with Michael before he got the United job and speaking to him about management,” Butt said. “He went, ‘No, it’s not for me. It’s too much and my head’s all over the shop. I’ll only do it for the big job and the big job is United.’”

Carrick was eventually handed a permanent contract after steering United to a third-place Premier League finish and Champions League qualification in the second half of 2025/26 — a turnaround that generated genuine optimism around Old Trafford. That goodwill has eroded quickly. United have collected just one win from their opening six league fixtures, a run that includes an opening-day 2-0 defeat to newly promoted Hull City, a 1-0 loss to Manchester City, and draws with Everton and Fulham. The most recent setback was a 1-1 draw against a ten-man Tottenham side who are themselves struggling for form.

Carrick’s route to Old Trafford was far from straightforward. After a 19-year playing career at West Ham, Spurs and United, he served as caretaker manager at the club in late 2021 following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal, before Ralf Rangnick took over. He then spent three seasons at Middlesbrough, holding his own in the Championship before being sacked at the end of 2024/25 following a modest tenth-place finish.

When Amorim was dismissed in January, Carrick emerged as the frontrunner alongside Solskjaer, and the board ultimately chose him. The gamble appeared to pay off in the short term, with United’s late surge in 2025/26 ending a prolonged period of instability that has haunted the club since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

But the early weeks of the new campaign have exposed familiar vulnerabilities. A dominant 5-2 win over Ipswich Town in the second game of the season briefly suggested the Hull defeat was an aberration, yet United have failed to impose themselves consistently since. With the Champions League group stage also looming, the pressure on Carrick — a man who admitted he only wanted this job — is growing rapidly.