Jamie Carragher has said there is “no doubt” Michael Carrick will be appointed permanent Manchester United manager after overseeing a complete turnaround in the club’s fortunes in interim charge.
Carrick presided over an important Premier League win over Brentford on Monday night, with the 2-1 win taking them to the brink of securing Champions League football next season after a year out of Europe.
Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko scored while Mathias Jensen pulled a consolation goal back to set up a nervy finish, which United rode out to seal all three points.
Carragher said on Sky Sports: “He’s going to be Manchester United manager next season, no doubt about it. You can’t say he doesn’t deserve it. They have put [together] a run of results of a title winner, although they haven’t got European football to contend with.
“I don’t think anyone could have come in and done better results-wise. Performances haven’t been great but it’s not a great Man Utd team and he’s still getting big results.
“The biggest criticism of Ruben Amorin was that he never adapted, Carrick has shown he can adapt.”
The result means United stay in third, 11 points clear of sixth-placed Brighton and inching closer to sealing a spot at Europe’s top table. The Red Devils require just two more points from their remaining four games, while if either Brighton or Bournemouth fail to win this weekend, they would be mathematically out of reach.
United have won nine of their 13 top-flight games since Carrick took over from the ousted Amorim in January, picking up more points than any other team in the same period of time.
The former United midfielder took over with the club sixth in the top flight and in danger of failing to qualify for the Champions League.
Harry Maguire also paid tribute to the interim manager, saying: “We had two tough fixtures when Carrick came in against Arsenal and Man City but we managed to get six points.
“Everyone’s believed in it, and we’ve gathered together. We’ve got the confidence. We know that we can score goals from anywhere. I think we can still get a lot better at this formation as well. The results speak for themselves, since the manager has come in, and the formation has changed, we just seemed to pick up results.
“The games under Ruben Amorim which were 50-50 we’d always end up with a defeat, now it’s the other way around. We’re a lot better in both boxes.”
