Harry Maguire Compares Amorim, Carrick—And It’s Exactly Why Interim Boss Should Keep Job

Harry Maguire has praised Manchester United’s newfound ability to “pick up results” since Michael Carrick was appointed interim manager in January.

On the flip side, the center back also lamented how the team would often lose tightly-contested matches—such as Monday night’s 2–1 win over Brentford—under predecessor Ruben Amorim.

United made new no signings during the January transfer window, which may have contributed to Amorim’s dismissal after rumors of a difference in opinion over recruitment with sporting director Jason Wilcox. It means that Carrick is working with exactly the same group of players.

But, since the change in January, Carrick has taken 29 points from the 39 on offer, winning nine of 13 matches. Amorim, who oversaw a historically poor 2024–25 season as United slumped to 15th place, amassed 31 points out of 60 in the opening 20 Premier League matches of this campaign.

Michael Carrick Compared to Ruben Amorim—2025–26 Premier League

Manager	Played	W-D-L	Points per Game
Ruben Amorim	20	8-7-5	1.55
Michael Carrick	13	9-2-2	2.2

Darren Fletcher took charge of one match as caretaker manager—draw vs. Burnley.

United had only lost five times under Amorim in the Premier League this season before the Portuguese was let go. But the team had been beaten 14 times under his guidance in 2024–25.

“The results speak for themselves,” Maguire told Sky Sports, reflecting on the consistency and positive momentum that has emerged in recent months.

“Since the manager has come in, and the formation has changed, we just ‌seemed to pick up results. Games previously, when Ruben was here, were 50/50, but we always ended up on the back of a defeat. Now it seems like it’s the other way around, where we’re a lot better in both boxes. We defend our ⁠box a lot better, ⁠and we’re managing to ‌be clinical in the other box.”

Michael Carrick Has Simplified Things

Manchester United closing on Champions League football, and Michael Carrick surely closing on the permanent role. 13 games, 9 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats. The performances haven’t all been convincing but the results largely have been.

A good performance/result against Liverpool at…
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) April 27, 2026

Amorim arrived with grand tactical visions that had underpinned his success in Portugal for Sporting CP, having guided the club to a first league title in a generation and followed it up with another.

But that 3-4-2-1 system never worked for United, even after months of working on it. When Amorim briefly diverted from those tactics—against Newcastle on Dec. 26—the Red Devils secured a win. The two games after, having reverted back, both ended in draws.

Darren Fletcher restored the 4-2-3-1 during his brief stint as caretaker boss, which Carrick continued.

Speaking last month, goalkeeper Senne Lammens praise Carrick for simplifying things, implying Amorim’s instructions had been too complicated.

“The first thing was [Carrick’s] ability to make everything quite clear and [present] a direct message. He didn’t make it too difficult for us,” Lammens told The Athletic at the time.

“Sometimes, managers make a plan too complicated, and then some players don’t buy in and it’s difficult to get on the same level for everyone. But from the first game, it was quite clear what he wanted. He was not asking the most difficult things, but also he was able to let our players thrive in their qualities.”

Will Man Utd Hire Michael Carrick As Permanent Manager?

Carrick has all but guaranteed the Champions League will be coming back to Old Trafford next season, achieving his objective when handed temporary control until the summer.

It has been almost the perfect audition to land the job on a full-time basis. The club has refused to rush into a decision, which is a different tactic to when a previous leadership group handed Ole Gunnar Solskjær a permanent contract while the season was still ongoing in 2018–19 and watched results soon tail off for the rest of that campaign. However, there has been absolutely no noise around anyone else either, suggesting Carrick is still heavily favored.

That he’s proven himself in the role already, that the players appear to love him and that he has a deep understanding of the club going back two decades—a much bigger deal than cynics are prepared to acknowledge—all point to only one outcome.

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