Sir Alex Ferguson’s true thoughts on Michael Carrick after furious outburst | Football | Sport

Michael Carrick, despite his illustrious career at Manchester United, was not immune to Sir Alex Ferguson‘s notorious ‘hairdryer treatment’. The 44-year-old, who has agreed to take on the role of interim manager until the summer, enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at the club, clinching five Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League among other honours.

Carrick seamlessly filled the void left by Roy Keane in United’s midfield, playing a pivotal yet often underappreciated role in maintaining balance and dictating play. However, there was one instance when he found himself on the wrong side of Ferguson’s wrath. The incident occurred during the Club World Cup final in 2008 against Ecuadorian outfit Liga de Quito.

Despite Carrick’s insistence that he had been playing forward passes, Ferguson vehemently disagreed, expressing his displeasure during the half-time break.

In his 2018 autobiography, Between the Lines, Carrick recalled: “The moment I entered the changing room, the boss launched into me. ‘Pass the ball f****** forward, I f****** told you’. Sir Alex was raging.

“When he was like that you had to sit there and take it, let him blow off some steam. On the outside, I was calm, nodding at the boss’s points, hiding my anger.

“On the inside, I was fuming saying to myself, ‘I must have played 40 passes forward here and he’s picked the one where I’ve gone back’. But the boss was so wound up that I didn’t dare voice my defence.”

United, having earned their place at the Club World Cup in Yokohama following their Champions League triumph, went on to secure the silverware with a narrow 1-0 win.

Wayne Rooney scored the all-important goal, with the Red Devils managing the feat despite being reduced to 10 men after Nemanja Vidic saw red.

Ferguson losing his cool with Carrick was probably an unusual sight, considering the midfielder’s remarkable reliability, with the legendary Scottish boss overseeing 319 of his 464 outings for the club.

Acquired from Tottenham Hotspur in 2006, Ferguson rapidly became convinced that Carrick would flourish at Old Trafford.

“One of the things that stuck out to me when we were profiling him and preparing to make a bid was that as a young boy, 16 years of age, he left home to play for West Ham,” Ferguson recalled.

“That tells you that the boy had the confidence that he was going to make it. A 16-year-old kid from Newcastle going to east London, that’s a trek, and it impressed me.

“From the minute we bought Michael in 2006, his character has always been outstanding. He’s a football man and that character, coupled with his ability, made him a certainty to be a big success at United.”

Following his retirement in 2018, Carrick took up a coaching role at Manchester United under the guidance of Jose Mourinho and continued to serve under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

However, with the arrival of Ralf Rangnick, Carrick departed from Old Trafford, subsequently taking up the managerial reins at Middlesbrough in October 2022, a post he held until the conclusion of the season.