Michael Carrick: The Geordie Maestro Turned Tactician with a Drive to Succeed
By Abdullah Mamaniyat (@mxmnyt)
In a way, the method of posting quality over quantity epitomises him as a footballer and person, but if you have a glimpse at Michael Carrick’s Instagram page, it’s a fair reflection of all you need to know about him – Manchester United, charity work, horse riding, inspiring the next generation… and Formula One.
A revelation by former Manchester United coach Paul McGuiness, who worked with the Red Devils and under Sir Alex Ferguson for over two decades, stated that Carrick’s UEFA Pro Licence thesis was about a study on Formula One tactics. It also included interviews with Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo. Between the two former Red Bull drivers, they have 74 podium finishes and plenty of high level accolades within the world of motorsport, and not just in Formula One.
The Football Association does not release archives of these papers, so it can only be guessed as to what the content of the former Manchester United player’s study was all about. Where does the crossover between F1 and football come?
There are many core skills that are performed on the elite level of both sports on a consistent basis. The mental resilience to reduce and counter deficits, focus and concentration on the detail are all key examples of this. The technical (or tactical) crossover is the more interesting aspect of this. Whether it’s on the grid or the football pitch, creating gaps and spaces often correlates to having the edge over oppositions. Part of that is developing the high level skill and mindset to exploit opposition and using those small spaces to gain big advantages. The ‘cat and mouse’ strategy is often synonymous with Formula One but is often strategised in football too. In simple terms, a game of ‘don’t sh*t yourself’ that involves sustaining and soaking up pressure in high intense moments.
One of Carrick’s favourite F1 moments is the Canada Grand Prix in 2011, where Jenson Button defied all the odds to win the race in the final lap after falling to last place early on. There’s no wonder the current Middlesborough manager picked out the race that shows all the above skillset manoeuvred by Button to win this famous race.
As a player, Michael Carrick can best be described as an intelligent, composed and quiet orchestrator of the game. For all his accolades with United, such a timid personality within the generation he played in was also the bane of his international career which never got going. Some would say that he was an English midfielder ahead of his time, much like his counterpart in crime Paul Scholes both with his feet and dialogue. “He is a quiet lad. He goes about his life in a similar way to Paul Scholes”, Sir Alex Ferguson once said. Former teammate Gary Neville also once described him as a ‘piano’.
As a coach/manager, much of these plaudits he has received early on in his managerial career have traced back to how he uses his personality to bring the best out of people.
Caolan Boyd-Munce, who was at Middlesborough last season but now plays at St Mirren, said of him: “Everything he does and says, he just simplifies everything and makes it so easy to understand.” It is often a pattern that former elite footballers can’t translate this into coaching i.e. taking a step back to simplify extraordinary things they see on the pitch that average footballers don’t. But Carrick is an exception to the rule.
Fred, whom Carrick coached during his time at United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, said “[Carrick] is a guy who understands the game, who lived it, and it’s impossible for there to be anyone better than him to help me.”
Kieran Scott, sporting director at Middlesborough, said “He talks about football non-stop. I mean… non-stop.”
So let’s talk about football.
TACTICAL PHILOSOPHY
Michael Carrick’s team play a balanced 4-2-3-1 out of possession and 3-2-5 in attack. The transition is made with 1 fullback – often the left back, overlapping and joining the attack. The other fullback will drop in and slot into a back 3 behind a holding pivot.
Out on attack, the striker will drop to create space for the attacking midfielder to run behind. 1 winger would hog the touchline to create extra width, whilst the other inverts to create a central overload, and space for that overlapping fullback to drop crosses into a packed box.
Creating the 5 in possession simultaneously creates gaps between the opposition defenders and causes a dual confusion of whether to drop deeper or go man-for-man (hence creating bigger gaps between the backline). Using the width efficiently is a key factor of ‘Carrick Ball’, but is not just limited to this. Quick counter attacks and a positional sense within the players in different phases of play played a key factor in Carrick’s first full season as a manager at Middlesborough.
INTERIM CHARGE AT THEATRE OF DREAMS
Before he took the reigns in North Yorkshire, he was amongst the clan of coaches at Manchester United who were awkwardly stuck between the reigns of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and interim manager Ralf Rangnick. Carrick bravely and temporarily took on the role as caretaker manager for three games. These would be a 2-0 win against Villareal, a 3-2 win against Arsenal and a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
A look at his victory against Mikel Arteta gave some good indication signs of what he as a manager could look like, and overall falls within the same philosophies that he has since developed within his managerial toolset.
A high pressing system allowed United to put pressure on Tomiyasu and Ben White as targets to destabilise the Arsenal defence when United were out of possession (OOP). One of the more difficult aspect of Solksjaer’s reign was playing Cristiano as the frontman inside of a pressing system. Inadvertently, it led to the collapse of this team and his tenure as United manager.
In this match, the right side of Arsenal was targeted as a weakness. Ronaldo would often drop left, which would draw out the RCB (Ben White) wide, which opened space for Jadon Sancho to invert as the fullback (Telles) overlap to create a cross. Fred would carefully approach the six yard box to join in the attack and add the extra central overload, which was instrumental in the assist to Bruno Fernandes and winning the penalty for the victory.
Against an Arteta side that at this point in 2021 were very unseasoned in creating pressing structure, this was easier but still fairly difficult to penetrate through in an entertaining game. It was commendable for a coach who had not managed at the top level go toe to toe with a Guardiola protégé as come out victorious.
22/23: THE UNLIKELY TURNAROUND
It was soon back to the drawing board of the coaching ladder. Before Carrick’s appointment last season, Chris Wilder operated in a 3-5-2 formation and one of the key factors of his dismissal was that Boro’ were leaking too many goals and not finishing their chances.
By the time Carrick had arrived, Boro’ were in the danger zone, uninspired having lost 7 of their first 16 league games. By the time the season was dusted, the same team narrowly lost out in the semi-final of the Championship play-offs against Coventry City.
Along the way, much of the philosophies Carrick had learnt in his obsession to see between the lines were applied.
One of the crucial elements of this was tinkering with his talisman. Chuba Akpom’s stock was low under Wilder, who never really rated the forward. But Carrick saw potential and turned Akpom into a leading Championship striker who scored 28 league goals for the side. The Boro’ manager would alter Akpom’s role into a hybrid #9/10 rather than an out and out forward, which was later aided by Cameron Archer’s emphatic arrival on loan with 11 league goals. Aaron Ramsey also arrived in January, quickly establishing himself in the side.
Zack Steffen’s loan move from Manchester City provided stability at the back. The American goalkeeper was comfortable playing the ball with his feet, but using long balls and winning the second ball was a feature of yielding attacks in the opposition half, especially when transitioning from being a direct team under Wilder.
Ryan Giles was another recruit through the loan system, providing himself as the overlapping fullback. The fruition of this was that Giles was able to frequently cross and would end the season as the joint highest for assists in the Championship.
Tommy Smith would be used as a centre-back in attacking phases, notably due to his ability to play there alongside his natural position of RB.
Bar Smith, all of the above players would epitomise the temporary nature of the revolving football wheel. They either moved onto greener pastures or returned to their parent club to move to other Premier League clubs. Not many, if any, teams could cope with losing 39 goals in a season via Archer and Akpom’s departures from Teeside.
23/24 – A STROKE OF BAD LUCK AND CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM
The new season would start as atrociously as the season with Wilder began. Yet Boro’ stuck with Carrick, and the team have gradually boosted in gelling with the new personnel aimed at replicating a fraction of the success of last season.
It is a team that, on its day, can beat the best. A 1-0 victory against Leicester City and a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final is demonstrative of this team’s potential.
Some of the more encouraging numbers lay in possession and attacking play. Boro’ hold an average possession of 53.1%, modestly showing them as a dominant team – as the 8th best in doing so. The possession turnover in the final third is slightly more impressive, given the high pressing system. They sit at 7th best in the league with 4.6 per game. Shots on target per match are even better, with 5.5 per game and being 3rd best in the league – picking right up with numbers from last season. However disappointingly, Carrick’s side are 1st in big chances missed across the first half of the season with 48. Being clinical last season served as one of the key turning points from Wilder’s reign, so improving this within the next few months could be the difference between finishing inside and outside of the play-off positions.
As shown, some of the leading statistics in the Championship tell an encouraging story from a side that are missing rhythm, namely due to the horrible run of injuries/unavailability they have sustained. Seny Dieng has been away on AFCON duty, Alex Bangura is out injured, Darragh Lenihan is out for the season, whilst Jonny Howson, Paddy McNair, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Isaiah Jones are on the comeback trail from injuries. Morgan Rogers is attracting heavy interest from Aston Villa in the January transfer window.
Calling back to Carrick’s obsession with Formula One, this is the opportune time to use mental resilience built up from this season to overcome and push on for a play-off place in the second half of the season.
The team is capable, but listening to advise from some of the best in the game may serve well. Alan Shearer heaped criticism after Middlesborough’s 6-1 beating by Chelsea for being naïve in their approach to play entertaining football, rather than prioritising a defensive setup to protect the 1-0 lead.
With time, Carrick is learning and growing in all aspects of highs and lows in game. His drive to succeed is leading him in ways that many English midfielders turned managers have been failing in recent years.