Jamie Carragher uses Liverpool example in Man Utd manager search - 'I always think'

The former Liverpool defender was asked who he feels would be best suited to take over as Manchester United's next head coach and said Michael Carrick lacks one key characteristic

Jamie Carragher feels Manchester United should avoid appointing Michael Carrick(Image: Sky Sports)

Jamie Carragher has said Manchester United should avoid appointing Michael Carrick as full-time head coach, using the same logic he would apply when looking for a new Liverpool head coach.

Carrick has taken charge at Old Trafford until the end of the season, when United will appoint a long-term replacement for Ruben Amorim. However, after an outstanding start last weekend with a convincing Manchester derby victory, Carrick’s credentials as the long-term successor are already being talked up.

He is one of two young, English head coaches to be handed major Premier League roles in recent weeks, along with Liam Rosenior at Chelsea, but Carragher feels both lack the experience to propel their respective sides to the summit of the English game.

“I go to back to something I said last week. We have done analysis on Michael Carrick being really positive, rightly so, and we have done some positive stuff on Liam Rosenior and what he is doing right,” the ex-Liverpool defender said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

“But I go back to it because I can’t change my opinion and I always think this when a Liverpool manager gets appointed: ‘Do I believe this guy can win us the league?’.

“It doesn’t mean he will do it, but I have got to believe he can. I don’t believe Manchester United can win the league with Michael Carrick as the manager, or Chelsea can win the league with Liam Rosenior as manager.

“I’m not trying to be disrespectful; I’m only trying to give my opinion of what I feel about their experience and background as managers, what they have done in the past.

Jamie Carragher feels Manchester United should avoid appointing Michael Carrick as permanent head coach(Image: )

“You have to be special. When you think of the managers in the past who have won the Premier League, there’s something really special about 99 percent of them, I would say.

“Michael Carrick lacks that and so does Liam Rosenior. I might be proven wrong, but I would take Michael Carrick out [of the running for full-time United coach].”

The talk of managerial appointments comes as Liverpool continues to struggle under Arne Slot, and Carragher feels that in addressing the team’s defensive deficiencies, the Dutchman head coach has blunted the Reds’ attacking threat.

“The concerning thing over this run is Liverpool are playing with the handbrake on,” Carragher said of Liverpool’s 12-match unbeaten streak.

Jamie Carragher feels Arne Slot has gone too defensive at Liverpool(Image: Sky Sports News)

“Now, I don’t think that was the case at the weekend [against Burnley]. I think Liverpool played really well, and sometimes you have to accept you don’t get the result that you really deserve, which Liverpool did.

“I don’t think this game in isolation reflects what we’ve seen over the last couple of months. But the dilemma for every manager, in every team in every league, no matter where you’re playing, is balance between attack and defense.

“The balance has almost gone too far one way now, where that energy and pace in the team isn’t there, so it’s a lot slower, the football is a bit pragmatic if you like.

“But he [Slot] has done that to stop the end-to-end games, to try and make the team stronger defensively. Now he’s almost got to move this needle a little bit more attacking, and listen, if it was easy, every manager could do it, but that’s the conundrum for everybody, getting the balance between attack and defense, and he hasn’t been able to get that right all season.”