Michael Carrick Transforms Manchester United's Season

Paul Pogba has seen enough. From a distance now, but with the eye of someone who lived the chaos and the expectation at Manchester United, he watched Michael Carrick steady a listing ship and decided the club have finally made a call that makes sense.

Carrick turns doubt into direction

The 2025/26 campaign did not begin with clarity. United stumbled through uncertainty under Ruben Amorim, the performances as uneven as the mood around Old Trafford. By the turn of the year, the experiment was over. Amorim was dismissed and Carrick, the quiet architect in the background for so long, stepped in on an interim basis.

What followed changed the entire complexion of United’s season.

Across 17 Premier League games, Carrick delivered 12 wins, three draws and only two defeats. The numbers told one story; the football told another. United moved higher up the pitch, pressed with intent, and attacked with a conviction that had been missing for years. Supporters felt it immediately. So did the dressing room.

The reward was tangible. A third-place finish. A return to the Champions League after a two-year exile. For a club that had spent too long drifting, this was not just improvement. It was a reawakening.

The board insisted they would not rush. No knee-jerk appointment, no emotional decision based on a short bounce. Yet as the weeks passed and the results stacked up, the reality became obvious: the job was Carrick’s to lose. Last month, the interim tag finally disappeared. The United legend was confirmed as the permanent manager.

Pogba backs the new era

From the outside looking in, Pogba approved.

Speaking to Sky Sports in a brief interview, the former United midfielder made his feelings clear. “I think he’s doing a great job and he did it also at the time when he was the assistant of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,” he said, pointing to a continuity of influence that long pre-dates this surge.

“He’s a great guy, he has experience, he was a great player, and he has a very good connection with the players, you could see it when he took the team.”

That connection has become central to the new mood at Old Trafford. Carrick’s playing career gives him instant credibility; his calm presence and tactical clarity have done the rest. Pogba, who made 233 appearances for United across two spells, knows how fragile that bond can be when results turn and pressure mounts. He also knows when it is real.

“I think it’s going to be good for United,” he added. “I wish them the best, obviously, for him and all the staff and the players.”

Optimism at United has been a rare commodity in recent years, often built on slogans rather than substance. This time it rests on a manager who has already changed the team’s trajectory and a squad that has responded to him.

Now comes the real test: a crucial summer window, Champions League nights returning, expectations rising again. Carrick has earned the job. The next season will show what he can build with it.