Michael Carrick
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Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
manager and former
player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...
who is currently head coach of
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year playing career with Manchester United, whom he also captained. Carrick was a
central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, but he was used as an emergency
centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
under
Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...
,
David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...
,
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...
and
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...
. His playing style was grounded in his passing ability. Carrick began his career at
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, joining the youth team in 1997 and winning the
FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
two years later. He was sent on loan twice during his debut season, to
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
and
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
, before securing a place in the first team by the 2000–01 season. He experienced relegation in the 2002–03 season and was voted into the PFA First Division Team of the Year in the following campaign. He made more than 150 appearances for ''the Hammers'', and in 2004, he moved to rival London club
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
for a fee believed to be £3.5 million. He played an influential role at the club for two seasons before moving to Manchester United in 2006 for £14 million. From his debut onwards, Carrick was a regular in the Manchester United first team, making more than 50 appearances in his first season with them. He established himself as a key member of the team that won the Premier League in 2006–07, their first title success in four years. The following season he was part of the side that won the 2008 Champions League final, playing the full 120 minutes as they enjoyed a 6–5 penalty shootout win, with Carrick converting his spot kick, to help achieve the European Double. As of 2021, he is the only English player alongside former teammate
Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while als ...
to win the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
title,
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
,
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
,
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
,
FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...
,
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
and
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
. In winning the 2016 FA Cup, Carrick completed his collection of every domestic honour in the English game. Carrick has represented England at under-18, under-21, B and
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
levels. He made his England debut in 2001 and went on to gain 34 caps without scoring a goal. Carrick was often overlooked during his England career, with many of his contemporaries being preferred in his position. This was the case until the 2012–13 season, when Carrick established himself as a regular. He was a member of the England squad for two major tournaments, the
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
s.


Early life

Carrick was born to Vince and Lynn Carrick in
Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...
, Tyne and Wear, and first became involved in football at age four. A boyhood fan of
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, he played
five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...
with
Wallsend Boys Club Wallsend Boys Club is an English youth football club based in Wallsend, North Tyneside. The club is well known for producing professional footballers; more than 65 players from the club have gone on to play professionally, some of them even ...
on Saturday nights, courtesy of his father's volunteer work at the club. Aged nine, he had a trials with
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
,
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
,
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
,
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
and
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. Football became more serious for him at the age of 12 when he was selected for Burnside High School and later on North Tyneside Schools. While playing for Wallsend Boys' Club under-16s, he was capped for the England Boys' club side. At age 13, Carrick was profiled by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
children's programme ''
Live & Kicking ''Live & Kicking'' is a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for ''Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, c ...
'' episode 49, which aired on 4 February 1995. During his school years, and the years up until his move to
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, Carrick actually played as a
centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
; it was only at West Ham that he started to play more often as a
midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
. He studied at Wallsend's Western Middle School and Burnside Community High School, completing his
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
exams in 1997.


Club career


West Ham United

Carrick was part of the West Ham United youth squad that won the
FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
in the 1998–99 season. He scored twice in their two-legged 9–0 record final victory over
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
. According to his manager at the time,
Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...
, Carrick's difficulty at the start of his career was mainly physical and he lost almost two seasons to injuries because of his rapid growth. He made his debut for West Ham in a 1–1 away draw with
Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its ...
in the
UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
on 24 July 1999. His league debut came five weeks later on 28 August, when he replaced
Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...
in a 3–0 victory over
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...
at
Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...
. In November 1999, Carrick was sent on a one-month loan to
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
and made his first appearance for them in a 0–0 draw at home with
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
. He scored his first ever professional career goal in a 2–1 defeat at home to
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
on 23 November. He scored once more during his loan spell, netting in a 1–1 draw at home to
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on 4 December. Although he impressed during his spell he could not help the team find a much-needed win during his 6 outings, playing his final game for them in a 3–0 defeat at
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
on 18 December. In February 2000, he was sent on loan again, this time to
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
, making just two appearances for the Blues. Carrick returned to Upton Park and scored his first goal for West Ham United, scoring the first in a 5–0 home win over
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
on 22 April. During his first season he was voted as West Ham United's Young Player of the Year. Carrick made his West Ham breakthrough in the 2000–01 season, playing 41 games in all competitions, which included 33 games in the league. His only goal of the season came in a 1–1 home draw against
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
on 9 December 2000. Carrick was awarded a new, improved contract for his progress that would keep him at Upton Park until 2005. On 20 April 2001, he was nominated for the
PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...
alongside teammate
Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as one ...
. The award was eventually won by
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
midfielder
Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
on 29 April. For the second successive season Carrick was voted as West Ham's Young Player of the Year. The 2001–02 season saw Carrick make 32 appearances for the Hammers. Carrick scored twice during this season, his first was West Ham's only goal in a 7–1 loss at
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
on 14 October. He scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over
rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
ten days later. Towards the end of the season, Carrick suffered a recurrence of a groin injury that ruled him out of the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
for the England squad. The 2002–03 season was one to forget for Carrick, as West Ham were relegated from the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
at the end of the campaign, with Carrick playing his last game of the season in a 2–0 victory over Sunderland on 22 March 2003. Rather than leave the club like teammates Joe Cole,
Frédéric Kanouté Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Foot ...
and
Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...
, Carrick stayed with West Ham during their first season back in First Division. During the 2003–04 season, West Ham finished fourth on the final day to ensure a place in the
play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
. However, they lost 1–0 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
to
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
and were denied a return to the top flight. Carrick was included in the
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
for the First Division.


Tottenham Hotspur

After one season outside the Premier League, Carrick felt compelled to leave the First Division, saying: "the truth is I didn't feel I could play First Division football much longer." He was linked with moves to a number of teams including
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
,
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, Everton,
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
and Crystal Palace before
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
emerged as front-runners to sign him. On 20 August, a deal was agreed between West Ham and Tottenham for the transfer of Carrick subject to a medical. Four days later, the transfer was official as Carrick joined the club for around £3.5 million after the passing of a medical. He made a goalscoring appearance for the Tottenham reserves, but his first team debut for the club was delayed after suffering an injury setback on 13 September. Carrick was assigned the number 23 shirt and made his Tottenham debut on 18 October as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at Portsmouth. Despite being fit he was often overlooked by then-manager
Jacques Santini Jacques Jean Claude Santini (born 25 April 1952) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played for Saint-Étienne during the 1970s, and reached the European Cup final with them in 1976. He has coached the French national tea ...
. It was unclear as to whether Santini really wanted him at all as there was much media speculation that Carrick was bought by Tottenham's Director of Football
Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director a ...
rather than Santini. However, following the departure of Santini and the appointment of new manager
Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany, and England, as well as earning three caps wit ...
he soon emerged as a regular starter in midfield. His first full start for Tottenham was also Jol's first game in charge of the club away to
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
in the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
on 9 November. During the game he assisted a goal for
Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Keane served as Captain (association football ...
as they went on to win 3–0. On 18 December, he produced a display that was influential in helping Tottenham to a 5–1 win at home over
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
. Carrick subsequently ended the 2004–05 season with 29 league appearances but failed to score as they finished the table in 9th and missed out on a
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
spot. On 3 December 2005, Carrick scored his first Tottenham goal as he netted the winner in a 3–2 home win over
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. He scored his second goal for the club on 8 April 2006 in a 2–1 win at home over Manchester City. On 22 April, Carrick was lauded for his performance, which helped Tottenham to a 1–1 away draw in the
North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is co ...
against
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
. On 7 May, Carrick was one of 10 Tottenham players who fell ill at a hotel just before their final game of the season away to West Ham as the players suffered from apparent food poisoning. He managed to play in the game but lasted just 63 minutes in the 2–1 defeat to his former club. As a result of the loss rivals Arsenal beat them to fourth place in the league and the spot for the Champions League. He made more crosses and more passes than any other Tottenham player during the 2005–06 season, and along with Mido was joint top in assists.


Manchester United


2006–2009: Title success and European Double

On 10 June, Tottenham revealed they had rejected a bid from Manchester United for Carrick, who was seen by their manager
Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...
as a replacement for the departed
Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...
, the former club
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
. The following day, Tottenham manager Martin Jol insisted Carrick would be staying with the club, stating "I don't want to lose a player like Michael, who was probably our best midfielder last season". On 28 July, Tottenham announced that the clubs agreed a deal for the transfer of Carrick to Manchester United. Three days later, the transfer was official as personal terms were agreed with Carrick. Despite agreeing a deal for the player the previous week – the fee was not made public until Spurs issued a statement to the stock exchange. Manchester United's chief executive David Gill confirmed the transfer fee as £14 million, potentially rising to £18.6 million, which would make Carrick the sixth most expensive player acquired by Manchester United at the time. He was given the number 16 shirt, previously worn by Keane. Carrick made his debut for the club on 4 August 2006 in a 3–1 pre-season friendly win over
Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
in the
Amsterdam Tournament The Amsterdam Tournament ( nl, Amsterdam Toernooi) was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the A ...
. The following day, Carrick was forced to miss the start of the 2006–07 season as a result of injuring his foot during the final tournament match against
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
. Following his recovery from this injury he made his competitive debut on 23 August in a 3–0 away league win over Charlton Athletic. Three days later, he made his first start for the club in a 2–1 win away over
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
. Towards the end of December he missed two games as he suffered a minor injury. He returned in time to feature in United's final game of 2006, a 3–2 home win over
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
on 30 December. On 13 January 2007, Carrick scored his first Manchester United goal in a 3–1 win at home over
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. One month later, he scored his first ever
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
goal in a 1–1 draw at home to Reading on 17 February. He followed this up by contributing one of United's goals in a 4–1 home win over Blackburn Rovers on 31 March. Carrick scored his first-ever Champions League goals on 10 April, scoring twice in a 7–1 home win over
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
in their quarter-final second leg tie. They would go on to lose their semi-final tie 5–3 on aggregate to eventual champions
A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
ending their hopes of an all English
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
with Liverpool. He scored his final goal of the season in a 2–0 win at home over
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
on 17 April. His first season with Manchester United ended in success, as they won the Premier League title as a result of Chelsea's 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 6 May. Carrick suffered an injury setback in October 2007 after breaking his elbow in a 1–0 home win over Roma in the Champions League group stage. As a result of the injury he would be out of action for up to six weeks. His return to action came on 3 November as a substitute for Anderson in a 2–2 draw at Arsenal. Carrick scored his first goal of the season on 10 February 2008 in the
Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough of ...
, his goal came in injury time and was mere consolation in a 2–1 home loss to rivals Manchester City. His second and final goal of the season came against his former club West Ham United in a 4–1 win at home on 3 May. Although he scored just two league goals that season it still led to another league title as United beat
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...
on the final day of the season to prevent Chelsea from reaching the top spot. On 18 April, one week on from their title success Carrick was offered a new five-year contract along with defenders
Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...
and
Wes Brown Wesley Michael Brown (born 13 October 1979) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Brown began his career with Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, jo ...
. A four-year contract was then signed on 17 May 2008, which tied Carrick to United until at least June 2012. He participated in his first-ever Champions League final on 21 May in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, playing the full 120 minutes in a 6–5 penalty shootout win over Chelsea in the 2008 final. The scoreline ended 1–1 after
extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
, he took United's second penalty of the subsequent shootout, which he converted to help give him the first European honour of his career. During United's first league game of the 2008–09 season at home to Newcastle United, Carrick was substituted after just 25 minutes as a result of an injured ankle in the 1–1 draw. The following day, it was confirmed he would be out for up to three weeks, which ruled him out of the
UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...
match against
Zenit St. Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in ...
on 29 August. His return to action came on 13 September in a 2–1 away loss to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, he was taken off at half-time during after sustaining another injury. Three days later, it was revealed he would be out for up to six weeks after breaking a bone in his foot during a challenge with
Yossi Benayoun Yossi Shai Benayoun ( he, יוסי שי בניון; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is ...
. On 1 November, Carrick scored his first goal of the season in a 4–3 home win over
Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
. His second goal followed two weeks later in a 5–0 home win over
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
. His first goal of 2009 came on 22 April as he scored late on in a 2–0 home win over
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. On 13 May, he assisted
Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a winger ...
and then scored a late winner in a 2–1 win away to Wigan. The goal was Carrick's first for United away from home and meant that they only needed one point from their final two games to gain a third successive Premier League title. Carrick ensured a third title in three years with United as they drew with Arsenal 0–0 at home on 18 May to claim an 18th overall English title. On 27 May, Carrick played the full match in the 2009 Champions League Final in a 2–0 defeat by
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. This defeat was described by Carrick as worst night of his career as he said "the game just seemed to pass us by and we were unable to do anything about it. I suppose when you look at the big picture, it was still another Champions League final". On 30 September, Carrick scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season with the decisive goal against German champions
Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...
in a 2–1 Champions League win at home. Two months later, he scored his first league goal of the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
, scoring the second of a 3–0 home win over Everton. Due to a defensive crisis during December, Carrick had to fill in at centre-back since
Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...
, himself being played out of position, picked up an injury against West Ham United in a 4–0 away win. Carrick had never previously played in defence during his career but manager Sir Alex Ferguson was very pleased with his contribution. On 8 December, he played in defence again by playing in a three-man defence alongside central-midfielder
Darren Fletcher Darren Barr Fletcher (born 1 February 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who is currently the technical director of Manchester United, where he spent the majority of his playing career. He mostly played as a cent ...
and regular left-back
Patrice Evra Patrice Latyr Evra (; born 15 May 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His ...
in a 3–1 away win against Wolfsburg in the Champions League. His third goal of the season came on 30 December in a 5–0 home league win over Wigan Athletic in what was United's last game of the decade.


2010–2013: Continued success

On 25 January 2010, Carrick scored the first-ever
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
goal of his career in a 4–3 aggregate win over rivals Manchester City in the second leg of their semi-final tie. On 6 February, Carrick scored in a 5–0 home win over Portsmouth but it was credited as a Richard Hughes own goal following the game. However, the Dubious Goals Panel officially awarded Carrick the goal on 25 May following a review. On 16 February 2010, he was sent off for the first time in his career after seeing two yellow cards in United's 3–2 win over A.C. Milan at the
San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...
. The midfielder was shown a second yellow card in injury-time after flicking the ball away following Patrice Evra's foul on
Alexandre Pato Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (; born 2 September 1989), commonly known as Alexandre Pato () or just Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Pato began his career as a youth player for Internacional in 2000, maki ...
. Carrick played the entire game of the 2010 League Cup Final against Aston Villa, which United won 2–1 resulting in his first League Cup medal. This was the first season of his United career that would end without winning the league title as Chelsea claimed the crown by a single point on the final day of the season. On 6 August 2010, it was announced that Carrick would miss the start of the 2010–11 season as a result of an ankle injury sustained in United's final pre-season game against a
League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...
. However, two days later, he played 79 minutes of United's 3–1 victory over Chelsea in the 2010 Community Shield. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed, "He came in yesterday, says he was fit, wanted to train, trained, and wanted to play." On 3 March 2011, he signed a new three-year deal keeping him at the club until the end of the 2013–14 season. Carrick's first significant display of the season came in a 1–0 away win over Chelsea in the Champions League on 6 April. He played a vital pass in the move that led to
Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while als ...
's goal and was praised for his performance. However a few days later in the FA Cup semi-final against
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
Carrick gave the ball away which led to the only goal of the game scored by
Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an academy coach for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Touré aspired to be a striker during his yout ...
. At the start of the 2011–12 season, Carrick for the second season in a row was a shock starter at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
for the
2011 FA Community Shield The 2011 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 89th FA Community Shield, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Premier League and ...
. After initially being ruled out through injury by Alex Ferguson in the pre-match build-up, Carrick was named in the starting 11 for the game on 7 August 2011. In the first half, United fell behind to a Joleon Lescott header and a long range
Edin Džeko Edin Džeko (; born 17 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan and captains the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Džeko was named Bosnian Footballer of the Year for three years in a ...
strike to trail 2–0 at half time. Carrick was then substituted at the interval and replaced by youngster
Tom Cleverley Thomas William Cleverley (born 12 August 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Watford. After starting his career in the youth set-up at Bradford City, Cleverley joined Manchester United at the age of 1 ...
. However United went on to turn the game around and prevail 3–2 winners. The day after the Shield match, Carrick pulled out of England's friendly match against the Netherlands to rest a niggling injury. He was replaced in the squad by
Tom Cleverley Thomas William Cleverley (born 12 August 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Watford. After starting his career in the youth set-up at Bradford City, Cleverley joined Manchester United at the age of 1 ...
. On 18 December, Carrick scored his first goal for United for 70 games when he advanced from his own half of the pitch after cutting out
Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City. He is currently the man ...
's square ball, past a couple of defenders and firing low past the keeper. He eventually won the Man of the Match award. On 4 January 2012, Carrick played his 250th match for Manchester United in all competitions in a 3–0 away defeat to Newcastle United. He celebrated his Jubilee in a 3–2 away victory against Manchester City at the
Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...
in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
third round. On 14 January 2012, Carrick scored for United in a 3–0 home win against
Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
. In the 83rd minute, Carrick notched his first goal at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
since January 2010. He curled a left-footed effort past
Ádám Bogdán Ádám Bogdán (; born 27 September 1987) is a Hungarian professional footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper for Hungarian club Ferencváros. Bogdán began his career in Hungary at Vasas before spending time on loan at Vecsés. In 2007, he mo ...
into the bottom corner. On 16 February 2012, in a
Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
2–0 away win against
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
at the
Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...
, Carrick played his 500th match in all competitions. Carrick also showed his class when he thundered a shot from 30 yards against the post in a 2–0 win against
QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...
on 8 April. As a result of a defensive injury crisis at the club, Carrick started the 2012–13 season as a makeshift centre-back. His inexperience in the role was exploited by Everton in the season opener, as
Marouane Fellaini Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui (born 22 November 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Shandong Taishan. Born in Etterbeek to Moroccan parents, Fellaini played youth football for Anderlecht, R.A.E.C. ...
beat him to a corner kick to score the only goal of the game. He continued in the role for the next match against
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
. He scored his first goal of the season in a 1–0 Champions League victory against Galatasaray, after series of ball movement leading to Michael Carrick rounding the goalkeeper to score with his left foot. On 24 November 2012, Carrick was left out the squad that defeated QPR 3–1, ending his run of 33 consecutive league starts. April 2013 saw Carrick nominated for the PFA Player of the Year Award for his performances during the season with Manchester United. Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
said Carrick would be his personal choice for the award, "He is a quality passer. He could play for Barcelona, he would be perfectly suited to their game. He has a good vision and is an intelligent player." Tottenham winger
Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...
was ultimately voted as the winner; Carrick was, however, included in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2012–13 season. Carrick went on to be announced as Manchester United's Players' Player of the Year for the 2012–13 season. On 22 November 2013, Manchester United announced that Carrick had signed a contract extension until 2015, with the option to extend for a further year. In the 2013–14 season, Carrick struggled to retain his previous season's form, as Manchester United struggled generally under new manager
David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...
. His season was not helped by a persistent achilles problem that kept him out from November until December, whilst new signings in midfield such as
Marouane Fellaini Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui (born 22 November 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Shandong Taishan. Born in Etterbeek to Moroccan parents, Fellaini played youth football for Anderlecht, R.A.E.C. ...
had failed to perform.


2014–2018: Final years

In February 2014, Carrick was criticized by former club captain Roy Keane for what Keane thought was a poor interview. Although he made a total of 42 appearances in all competitions that season, there was speculation over whether Carrick had a future at Manchester United. In July, Carrick suffered an injury during a pre-season training session that was expected to keep him out for 12 weeks. Carrick's first game back from injury came at the 1–0 defeat against Manchester City on 2 November 2014, where he came on as a replacement centre-back following
Chris Smalling Christopher Lloyd Smalling (born 22 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Roma. Smalling represented the England national team from 2011 to 2017. During his youth, Smalling played f ...
's dismissal. After
Marcos Rojo Faustino Marcos Alberto Rojo (born 20 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. Rojo began his career at local club Estudiantes de La Plata, where he won the C ...
suffered a dislocated shoulder in the same match, Carrick stated that he would be happy to play as a makeshift centre-back. After Carrick returned to the starting line-up on a regular basis, ''
Match of the Day 2 ''Match of the Day 2'' is a Premier League association football, football highlights programme. It is a companion show to Match of the Day, usually broadcast on BBC One on Sunday evenings, thus facilitating coverage of the respective week's PL m ...
'' pundit
Dietmar Hamann Dietmar Johann Wolfgang "Didi" Hamann (; born 27 August 1973) is a German professional football coach, former player and media personality. Throughout his career, he has played for Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City ...
attributed some of Manchester United's improved form to Carrick's return in December, after the club had won all of the six games that he had started. Alex Ferguson stated that he thought Carrick was the best English player in an interview with
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...
in December 2014, shortly after Carrick had been named as Manchester United's new
vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...
by
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...
. On 15 March 2015, he provided an assist for
Marouane Fellaini Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui (born 22 November 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Shandong Taishan. Born in Etterbeek to Moroccan parents, Fellaini played youth football for Anderlecht, R.A.E.C. ...
's goal, and scored his first goal in more than a year during a 3–0 victory against his former club
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
. Five days later, Carrick signed a new one-year extension to his contract, lengthening his Manchester United career to 10 seasons. Carrick made his 400th Manchester United appearance on 2 January 2016 in the 2–1 home win over Swansea City, coming on as a stoppage-time substitute. On 21 May, he played the full 120 minutes in United's FA Cup win as United beat Crystal Palace 2–1 after extra time. This victory completed his collection of every domestic honour in the English game. He signed a new one-year contract extension on 9 June 2016. Carrick scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season on 21 September with United's first in a 3–1 away victory over
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
in the third round of the
EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
. Carrick became a key member of
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...
's team and his performances were highly recognised for his ability to control play, instil calmness and pass accurately. Mourinho also claimed that he wished Carrick was 10 years younger. In May 2017, Carrick extended his contract until June 2018. Eleven years of service to the club resulted in Carrick being granted a testimonial at the end of the 2016–17 season. Played at Old Trafford on 4 June 2017, the match was contested by a team representing Manchester United's 2008 Champions League-winning side and a team of all-stars selected by Carrick himself, managed by Sir Alex Ferguson and
Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...
respectively. The match ended in a 2–2 draw with Carrick scoring from a 25-yard strike. The money raised from the game was distributed to Carrick's chosen charities. Following the departure of club captain Wayne Rooney from Manchester United in July 2017, Carrick was appointed as Rooney's replacement. In November 2017, Carrick announced that he had undergone a procedure for an irregular heart rhythm after suffering dizziness during a match and in training. The medical treatment was successful and he returned to United's first-team squad as club captain. In January 2018, Carrick accepted an offer to join the club's first-team
coaching staff The coaching staff is a group of non-athletes tied to a sports team. A coaching staff can be existent at all levels of athletics. It is led by a head coach (known as a manager or senior coach in some sports) and consists of one or more assistant c ...
after his retirement at the end of the 2017–18 season. He made his 464th and final appearance as a player for Manchester United in the last match of the league season against Watford at Old Trafford on 13 May, in which he helped create
Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Manchester United and the England national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his explosive ath ...
's game-winning goal as his side won 1–0. Carrick was substituted towards the end of the match to allow the fans to give him a standing ovation.


International career

Carrick was
capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...
by the England national under-18 and under-21 teams before receiving his first call-up to the senior team in
Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; born 5 February 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player. After an unassuming playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management between 1977 and 2001, winning 18 ...
's first game in charge of England in February 2001. Despite being named in the 31-man squad to face
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, he was an unused substitute in England's 3–0 victory on 28 February. Three months later he made his England debut, replacing
David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
as a second-half substitute in a 4–0 friendly win over
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. His full debut came during their 2–1 victory over the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on 28 May 2005. Three days later Carrick started again in a 3–2 victory over
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
in the final game of their tour of the US. On 8 May 2006, Eriksson named Carrick in a 23-man provisional squad for the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
, eventually being named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament in Germany. He was an unused substitute for all three of England's
Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...
games as they advanced to the
knockout stage A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
. Carrick played just one game in the tournament, a 1–0 victory in the second round match against
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
on 25 June. The next game he was dropped to the bench for the quarter-final tie against
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, with
Owen Hargreaves Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with posses ...
replacing him. The game ended goalless after extra time, Portugal won 3–1 in the subsequent penalty shootout and knocked England out of the World Cup. Carrick had been regularly overlooked by various England managers when it came to the central roles, with
Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...
and Steven Gerrard generally being preferred. He started nine games under Sven-Göran Eriksson and his successor
Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching care ...
. His last appearance under McClaren was in a 2–1 defeat at home to
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in August 2007. Newly appointed manager
Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...
left Carrick out of his first England squad on 2 February 2008. During Capello's first year in charge of England Carrick was largely overlooked. However, he was named in Capello's squad for the game against the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, but was forced to withdraw after sustaining an injury during Manchester United's game with Newcastle United. In November 2008, he returned to the squad for a friendly against Germany in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. Starting alongside Gareth Barry in central midfield in England's 2–1 victory, he was named as
Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...
by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Despite playing just one game during England's
2010 World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oce ...
campaign, he was named in Capello's 30-man preliminary squad for the
2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
on 11 May 2010. He played 61 minutes of their 3–1 warm-up friendly win over
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
before being replaced by
Tom Huddlestone Thomas Andrew Huddlestone (born 28 December 1986) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and coach for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United. Having progressed th ...
. On 2 June, Carrick was then named in the final 23-man squad to fly to South Africa for the tournament, before being given the squad number 22. During the World Cup Carrick failed to make it onto the pitch, remaining an unused member of the squad. England were eventually knocked out of the tournament as they lost 4–1 to Germany in their second round tie on 27 June. On 6 August, Alex Ferguson claimed Carrick would be out for two weeks with an ankle injury and would miss England's friendly against
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
the following Wednesday. Capello left Carrick out of the subsequent England squad only to arrive at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
and see him play 79 minutes of the Community Shield match. Capello made a 'call me' sign as Carrick walked past his seat to collect the winner's medal. In May 2012, England manager Roy Hodgson said he left Carrick out of the 23-man squad and the standby list for
UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...
because he had previously told
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
that he did not want to be a bit-part player, although he could help the team "in extremis". On 10 August, Carrick was recalled to the England squad by Hodgson for a friendly match against
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
on 15 August. He played the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 victory over the ''Azzurri'' in Switzerland and also took over the
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
's armband from Frank Lampard for the final 20 minutes. On 7 September 2012, Carrick came on a half-time substitute in England's 5–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
. He then started against
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
in another 5–0 win the following month. On 17 October 2012, Carrick partnered Steven Gerrard in central midfield in the away qualifier against
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. On 26 March 2013, the partnership was renewed in England's qualifier against
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
in
Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...
. On 15 October 2013, Carrick started in England's final qualifier, a 2–0 home win against Poland, as the team qualified for the
2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
. In May 2014, Carrick was named on England's standby list for the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
after being omitted from the main 23-man squad travelling to Brazil. Having not appeared since 2013, Carrick was named in the squad for the November 2014 matches with
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
and
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. However, on 12 November, he pulled out of the squad after sustaining a groin injury. On 27 March 2015, Carrick made his first appearance for England in 17 months, starting the 4–0
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...
defeat of
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
at Wembley Stadium. On 31 March 2015, Carrick made his 33rd appearance for the national team as a substitute for Manchester United teammate and defender
Chris Smalling Christopher Lloyd Smalling (born 22 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Roma. Smalling represented the England national team from 2011 to 2017. During his youth, Smalling played f ...
, performing impressively to help England earn a draw against Italy in an international friendly match. On 14 November 2015, Carrick suffered an ankle injury during a match against
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and left the pitch on a stretcher. England went on to lose the game 2–0.


Coaching career


Manchester United

Carrick remained at Manchester United after retirement, having been handed a position on José Mourinho's coaching staff, alongside fellow new appointee
Kieran McKenna Kieran McKenna (born 14 May 1986) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of EFL League One side Ipswich Town. McKenna began his footballing career as a youth team player at Northern Iri ...
; both were filling the void left by former assistant manager
Rui Faria Rui Filipe da Cunha Faria (born 14 June 1975) is a Portuguese football coach, known for his work with football manager José Mourinho for 17 years. Biography Early life Faria was born in Balugães, a tiny parish of Barcelos in Portugal. Lik ...
, who opted to begin his own spell in management. Mourinho was sacked by United on 18 December 2018, following an indifferent first half of the season, resulting in Carrick briefly being named acting caretaker manager, prior to the appointment of another former United player
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his care ...
into that position for the rest of the season. Solskjær retained Carrick as part of his coaching staff, with Solskjær and his coaching staff being appointed on a permanent basis in March 2019. On 21 November 2021, after Ole Gunnar Solskjær left his role as
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...
, Carrick was named
caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
. Carrick's first match in charge was an
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
tie away at
Villareal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...
, which United won thanks to late goals from
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
and a first United goal for
Jadon Sancho Jadon Malik Sancho (born 25 March 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Manchester United and the England national team. Widely regarded as one of the best young players in the world, he is known for his ...
, sealing United's place in the last-16 of the competition. Following a 3–2 victory against
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
on 2 December, Carrick stepped down as first team coach and left Manchester United with immediate effect, shortly after the appointment of
Ralf Rangnick Ralf Rangnick (; born 29 June 1958) is a German professional football coach, executive and former player who is currently the manager of the Austria national team. Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a player, a ...
as interim manager, who would go on to remain in the role for the rest of the season. During his three match reign as caretaker manager, he recorded two wins and one draw, with United also having drawn with
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in his first Premier League game.


Middlesbrough

On 24 October 2022, Carrick was appointed head coach of
EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
club
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. Despite taking the lead, Middlesbrough lost Carrick’s first game in charge 2–1 away to
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
on 29 October. On 7 December 2022, Carrick was nominated for the EFL Championship Manager of the Month award for November after his first calendar month in charge.


Style of play

Despite playing as a
deep-lying midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, Carrick did not rely on pace, stamina, physical attributes, box-to-box play and tackling like a typical ball-winning midfielder; instead, his intelligence and composure on reading of the game helped him to anticipate any attacking threats from the opposition team, most of the time by covering space and making interceptions. His distribution of the ball, vision, creativity, playmaking skills, crossing ability, and range of passing, among the best in comparison to other midfielders in Europe, was allied to an ability to dictate the tempo of the game, as well as initiate team attacks. After his arrival at Manchester United in 2006, Carrick formed an effective partnership with
Paul Scholes Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...
, with Carrick playing in a holding role and Scholes alongside him as a deep-seated playmaker. This midfield partnership contributed to a change towards a continental playing style embraced by manager
Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...
and assistant
Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, ...
, which relied on passing and keeping possession in contrast to the more traditionally direct and all-action style of English football. His unassuming style, however, also led to a lack of attention from successive England national team managers in favour of all-action midfielders such as
Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...
and
Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
, a fact noted by Carrick's former club and national team captain
Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while als ...
. Carrick's intelligence and awareness were highlighted by former Manchester United manager
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...
, who labelled him his "trainer coach during the game". Furthermore, his importance to the team performance was constantly praised by former teammates
Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...
and Paul Scholes, as well as European peers
Xavi Xavier Hernández Creus (born 25 January 1980), known as Xavi is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely con ...
and
Xabi Alonso Xabier Alonso Olano (, ; born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player who is currently the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his hom ...
. In 2015, ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' included him at number one in their list of "The top 20 most under-rated footballers of all time," describing him as an "unassuming but highly intelligent and technically gifted deep-lying midfielder," who "has consistently performed well."


Personal life

Carrick married Lisa Roughead, a
Pilates Pilates (; ) is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. Pilates called his method "Contrology". It is practiced worldwide, especially in countries suc ...
instructor with a business degree, in
Wymondham, Leicestershire Wymondham (pronounced, phonetically, ) is a village in the Borough of Melton in Leicestershire, England. It is part of a civil parish which also covers the nearby hamlet of Edmondthorpe. The parish has a population of 623, increasing to 632 ...
on 16 June 2007. The couple started dating when they were both at school, and have a daughter, Louise, and a son, Jacey. In October 2018, Carrick announced that he had suffered from depression for two years following the defeat in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. Carrick has one brother, Graeme, who is four years younger. He was also at West Ham United but suffered several injuries, and has completed an MSc in Sport Coaching is currently an FA Regional Coach Mentor (North East & Yorkshire) after 7 years as an FA Skills Coach and a spell Coaching at Team Northumbria, after previously working at the Newcastle United Academy coaching the under-10s and under-16s.


Career statistics


Club

:Source:


International

:Source:


Managerial statistics


Honours

West Ham United U18 *
FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
: 1998–99 West Ham United *
UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
:
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
Manchester United *
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13 *
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
: 2015–16 * Football League/EFL Cup: 2009–10, 2016–17 *
FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...
:
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
,
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
,
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
,
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
,
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
*
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
: 2007–08 *
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
: 2016–17 *
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
:
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Individual *
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
: 2003–04 First Division,
2012–13 Premier League The 2012–13 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the Premier League, the English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 114 ...
* Manchester United Players' Player of the Year: 2012–13


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrick, Michael 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Wallsend Footballers from Tyne and Wear Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English footballers England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers England B international footballers England international footballers Association football midfielders Wallsend Boys Club players West Ham United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players FA Cup Final players UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Europa League winning players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players English football managers Manchester United F.C. managers Middlesbrough F.C. managers Premier League managers English Football League managers Association football coaches Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff English autobiographers