Michael Carrick interview: Former Manchester United star learning from 'winner' Jose Mourinho in his own coaching evolution

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When Michael Carrick discusses the true meaning of bravery in football, it has a very familiar ring to it. It sounds an awful lot like Pep Guardiola.

That the two men share a similar outlook on the game comes as little surprise. Carrick was very much a Guardiola-type player. A midfielder who cherished the ball, was meticulous with his use of it and never afraid to take possession even in the tightest of spaces. Guardiola recently paid him the ultimate compliment by claiming he would have been at home in his all-conquering Barcelona team.

Such lavish praise was ironic, considering the chastening experience of losing to Barca in the 2009 Champions League final sent the former Manchester United midfielder into a spiral of depression that lasted the best part of two years and left him feeling like “the worst player in the world.”

Now learning his trade as a coach under Jose Mourinho, Carrick’s progress is of national concern. Along with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, he represents a new generation of home-grown coaches, who have the potential to break the dominance of overseas managers at the top of English football.

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These are early days – and he has his hands full just trying to help Mourinho arrest the current slide at United – but Carrick is as ambitious as a coach as he was as a player. And if he is as determined to stay true to his principles on the touchline as he was on the pitch, it is a tantalising prospect.

Carrick has always done things his way. He took Roy Keane’s iconic No16 shirt when signing for United from Tottenham in 2006 without thinking twice – going on to redefine it. Keane is still considered one of football’s ultimate hard men – yet Carrick gave new meaning to the term.

“Bravery is one of those words used in all sorts of different ways,” said the 37-year-old. “I think bravery is to get on the ball and be bold enough and confident enough to try things when everyone is looking at you and the pressure is on and people are expecting you to win.

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“People like Giggsy (Ryan Giggs) would get on the ball and create that last minute goal and score that last-minute goal. For me that’s bravery. That stubbornness and belief to keep going and do it when it’s easier to shy away from it, when the tide is going against you, but you find a way to get through it.

“That’s that hardness. That toughness, that mental toughness, rather than the aggressive outward toughness where you find people flying into tackles.”

In his autobiography, 'Between the Lines', it’s clear what qualities Carrick most appreciated from the managers he worked under.

Sir Alex Ferguson – described as "the Boss" throughout – was a fearless risk-taker, even when faced with the prospect of containing Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

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At half-time of United’s Champions League final defeat to Barca in 2011 a row broke out between Carrick and Nemanja Vidic over the space Messi was being afforded at Wembley. It was an argument neither man could win as the Catalan giants’ movement simply bewildered United’s players.

“Eventually, the Boss got us together again and said, ‘Look, we’re in the game,’” writes Carrick. “‘Calm down. It’s 1–1. It’s all to play for, let’s go again, and really press them.’”

Carrick felt Louis van Gaal’s caution inhibited United’s natural attacking instincts and was particularly frustrated by the Dutchman’s insistence in catering his tactics to the opposition, even in an FA Cup tie against Sheffield United of League One.

Mourinho he describes simply as a "winner."

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Detailing the profound effects of the 2009 defeat to Barca in Rome, Carrick writes of his crisis of confidence and how on the pitch he “went from seeing the best option without even thinking to seeing six things at once and choosing the worst one at the wrong time.”

But reading the personal anguish Carrick felt with each of his disappointments at United – he still hasn’t watched footage of Manchester City lifting the Premier League title in 2012 – it’s safe to assume the current woes at Old Trafford are hitting him hard.

Speaking two days after United were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Championship outfit Derby and two days before the 3-1 defeat to West Ham, discussions are strictly focused on his book, from which all proceeds will go to the Michael Carrick Foundation.

But his description of the qualities that made the United teams he played in so successful should chime with Mourinho’s misfiring players.

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“I can only speak for myself, but for me, always the best teams with the best characters, results affect players the most,” he said. “The biggest players I’ve seen are the ones that take the wins well - don’t get carried away with them - but the defeats really hurt.

“They hurt in a way that drives you for a reaction. They hurt in a way that you don’t lay down and die, but it drives you on to bounce back.

“It does hurt. It literally takes over your life and that’s never changed for me. In some ways it affects you more than anyone else because you’re responsible for it and you are in control of whether it goes well or doesn’t go well.

“So when it doesn’t it hits you - that feeling of letting yourself down or your teammates down.

“Knowing that feeling of how many fans you’ve got around the world, you feel you’ve almost let people down. It’s not a nice place to be that’s why you enjoy your successes even more.”

The arrival of Mourinho saved Carrick’s United career after being informed by Van Gaal that he would be released at the end of the 2016 season. As Carrick puts it, the Dutchman beat him to the exit.

Mourinho has also been the man to give him his first opportunity in coaching and the respect between the two is mutual.

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“I was immediately struck by his aura,” writes Carrick, who is sympathetic towards both David Moyes and Van Gaal in his book. “When you’re with him, you know you’re with somebody who’s the boss, and who’s got the ability to make the big, bold decisions.

“It’s this sense of presence that sets the best managers apart from the rest. From the first training session, I realised that Jose’s a winner. It’s always about the end-game with him, and that’s winning trophies. Whenever I look at Jose, I just think ‘trophies.’”

If Mourinho's is "trophies" – Guardiola’s defining achievement is the team he assembled at Barca.

“There have always been teams over the years that have played that brand of football and been a joy to watch,” said Carrick. “But Barcelona put the whole package together.

“There was an appreciation of the skill levels they were at, but they were doing it winning as well – blowing teams away and dominating games from start to finish. That 2011 team by a mile is the best team I came across.

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“They peaked at that time, they were the whole package, they just gelled their relationships on the pitch, the combinations, everything just fell into place for them. I could deal with 2011 a lot easier than I dealt with 2009.”

Guardiola’s personality was all over that Barca side, according to Carrick, who one day hopes to impose his philosophy on a team of his own.

“It is something I would like to do, to be a manager, but that’s not assuming I will be,” he said. “It’s something that I can strive towards and see where it takes us.

“It’s something I’ve got to live and learn, start from the bottom and work my way back up again. The bottom is an unbelievable opportunity to be involved with the first team already.

“It’s something I enjoy and feels natural. I will give it my best.”

A nation watches with interest.

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