Michael Carrick has been travelling the country looking at areas badly affected by child poverty. He looks at the poor living conditions, inadequate diet, and the risk of tumbling into a life of crime and shakes his head. “Kids are suffering,” he says.
In looking for initiatives to invest money through the Michael Carrick Foundation, Manchester United’s club captain has focused first on two areas he knows well, near Wallsend, where he grew up, and near Old Trafford, his second home.
“We looked around Trafford Barn and it’s not the most glamourous of places, it’s deprived in parts, there’s poverty and kids are suffering,” Carrick says.“We looked around Wallsend, there’s child poverty all around. That’s where I grew up. I never felt like that [deprived]. It’s unbelievable.
“My mum and dad still live in Wallsend and to think there are children pretty close who aren’t living in proper conditions with proper education, and aren’t eating properly. Basically they’re living in what people class as child poverty. It’s desperately sad.”
According to Save The Children, more than a quarter of England’s children live in poverty. Carrick is not a man easily given to anger, but he says: “Child poverty is a massive problem. The easiest thing to throw out [say] is, ‘Government’s not giving enough money,’ but I don’t know how the whole system works well enough to judge who’s giving enough. But there’s obviously something quite wrong because kids are being let down. So many kids as well. We’re not talking about a cluster here, a cluster there. These are big areas with problems. It’s crazy.”
At 36, Carrick has a lot to consider as he winds down a distinguished playing career and sets out on a coaching pathway under José Mourinho that he hopes will lead to him managing Manchester United one day. “That’s definitely appealing,” he says of the United job.
Carrick has certainly become a real leader at the club since joining in 2006, delivering hope on and off the pitch. He was due to launch “Carrick’s Street Reds” at Trafford Barn today with money from his testimonial, coaching young people in conjunction with the Manchester United Foundation.
“It’s somewhere for the kids to get a game, bit of coaching, bit of a social. It’s based around football, but also life skills, discipline. I want them safe from trouble, and not getting into trouble. It’s important to show them a route out. Hopefully by coming more and more we can wean them off that track — crime — and give them that path where they see ‘that can make me a better person’ by seeing lads who’ve gone on to college.
“I go back to Wallsend Boys Club, a driving force for me as a kid, and I was lucky to have something like that on my doorstep. This [Trafford Barn] is somewhere to go, and feel safe, and get a bit of guidance.”
His testimonial match at Old Trafford last year raised £1.5 million with all proceeds going to his foundation. “That’s been a daunting task, directing how the money’s going to be used. Every letter I read makes me want to give them money because they’re all good causes.”
To start with he is focusing on Manchester and Newcastle. “I’m not a saint or trying to promote ‘I’m the perfect gentleman’. It’s about respect. I respect the chances I had when I was younger, and the position I’m in now. As a footballer kids follow you, so there are certain examples you need to give, like behaviour. I like to think I’m grounded.”
He and his wife, Lisa, make sure their children, Louise and Jacey, are equally level-headed. “The kids will go to Trafford Barn to see,” he adds. “They’re well aware we’re quite fortunate to have certain things that I didn’t have when I was young.
“We’re aware as parents of letting them know what the world’s like, what’s out there for better or for worse. We had a flat in Newcastle, 2-3 bed, and Louise used to love it, and said, ‘Can’t we just move into this flat?’ Which is brilliant for me. There’s substance there.”
Jacey, too. Carrick and his son joined the United fans at Turf Moor in January. “I loved going in with the fans. It’s what I’ve grown up with [in Newcastle]. I love that camaraderie, going to the game together. They did sing my song [“Oh, oh, oh, it’s Carrick, you know…”]. I didn’t join in. Jacey was singing his heart out, bless him. They asked me to sing a song. I love all that. That’s real football, isn’t it?”
Carrick is an intriguing mix of strictly professional, detaching himself from the hype and emotion of his sport, and yet genuinely caring and engaged. He’s beaten many opponents, but not time. “I could play on. I’d be fit enough. I wouldn’t be playing as well as I’ve played, so that’s what tells me that it’s time.” Not even a season at Newcastle United? “No.” Not even for sentimental reasons? “No.”
“Since I spoke to the manager [about retiring], there hasn’t been one day where I’ve thought I’m making the wrong decision. There might be time next season when I see a game and think, ‘Wish I was playing.’ I know [Paul] Scholesy came back but I know my body. I know myself. It just feels right.”
He’s played four times this season, recovering from a heart condition and calf problem and last featured at Huddersfield Town in February. “I’ve had loads of people saying, ‘Keep playing.’ Even after the Huddersfield game, ‘Definitely keep playing.’ I was actually all right after that.
“It’s just during it. It’s reactions, the physical stuff. It’s not fair for the other lads to accommodate me in the team. You’re playing for Manchester United. I shouldn’t be playing just because I’ve been there a few years. You have to deserve it.
“The fact I’m staying on softens the blow of stopping playing football. And the fact that I haven’t played much. As time’s gone, you get left behind basically, drifting away a little bit. The key for me was when I was out with my heart, and then coming back from my calf, there was an acceptance then that ‘this is time’. It is the end.”
So he reflects on his career. “I had the best times under Sir Alex [Ferguson]. We had five leagues and three Champions League finals in seven years. We had a great squad, a great time. Winning the Champions League in Moscow [in 2008], without doubt, was the best feeling I have ever had.
“I don’t think about Moscow every day, but every time the Champions League comes on I get flashbacks. I wish I could take the whole night and relive the whole thing again. You can always watch the game again but it is the other stuff you miss, the build-up, the party afterwards.”
He has played with some of the modern greats. “Scholesy. Giggsy. Wayne. Cristiano. How do you pick between them? Giggsy, wow, incredible footballer. To understand how he played the game was frightening. And Cristiano. Unbelievable.
“Wazza was ridiculously good, especially when he was younger, one of the best I’ve seen. He was unbelievable. Rio [Ferdinand] and Vida [Nemanja Vidic] too. All different players. But I have to say Scholesy because he was right next door to me every game. I loved playing alongside Scholesy.”
He talked to Ferguson about moving into coaching. “I’ve had a couple of good conversations with him in the past. I’ve been with the under-14s for four years doing my badges. I took them for an in-house game the other day. I got beat actually.”
Carrick has always looked a coach in waiting — “my trainer-coach on the field,” as Louis van Gaal called him. Mourinho’s astute offer of a coaching role came at a perfect time for Carrick, who had just finished his A licence and is booked in on the Pro Licence course at St George’s Park starting next January.
“I didn’t even have to think about it,” Carrick says of Mourinho’s offer. “It was a total no-brainer. Working with José. I’m genuinely looking around and thinking not many lads would get that opportunity so quick.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity to learn off someone like José who’s been everywhere and won everywhere. He’s got something very special. He’s a winner. You can see that drive in him to succeed. He’s able to assess games quickly, at half-time, and he gets how the game’s going. It’s all about winning with José, which shines through.”
Entertaining or winning? “Ideally you’d want both if you can. Winning is winning, and on the back of winning you become entertaining.”
But is criticism of Mourinho parking the bus excessive? “It is excessive because if you look at the teams he’s put out personnel-wise, there’s two wingers and a centre forward and a lot of times a No 10. There’s attacking full backs, Ashley [Young] or Antonio [Valencia]. You can argue any way you want but there’s some attacking intent on that pitch.”
Carrick knows them, the likes of Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay and United’s future generation like Jim Garner and Mason Greenwood. “I’m not suddenly ‘a coach’, I’m just trying to help the boys, bits in training, bits in the changing room, sit down and go through videos with them. Not by any means a lecture, just information, trying to guide them a bit.”
He has been working with Pogba on timing of runs. “He’s a huge talent. Paul has all the attributes that you’d want in a player, physically, technically, it’s up to him how good he wants to be.
“I look at the crop of good young lads here, real, real talent: Marcus [Rashford], Luke [Shaw], Jesse [Lingard], Anthony [Martial], Rom [Lukaku], Angel [Gomes], young Chongy [Tahith Chong]. That’s exciting for me to think I can try and help them.
“I don’t always say loads. I don’t shout and scream and pull everyone here, there and everywhere. I try to help when I can. When you’re playing midfield and playing that certain [anchoring] role, you’re attached to everything. When I was playing at my best you’re in control of everything and that gives you understanding of what a winger wants, what a forward wants and what a defender wants.”
He sees how much the game has changed. “The football from 10 years ago was massively different to now. Back then, it was relentless just going forward, going forward. There wasn’t a great deal of possession, and taking time to build up, if you saw a forward pass, you’ll play it and someone would run forward.
“The tactical side of the game has come on so much now, with how teams set up against you. I’m going to sit back and look at games in 2007, 2008, maybe Van Gaal, and now to see the change.”
Eloquent and insightful, Carrick has been wooed by TV. “It’s tough now I’m in coaching. I know Stevie [Gerrard] is in the academy [at Liverpool and a respected pundit on BT Sport] but when you’re in the first team, it’s tough. That’s your role.
“I’m not going in there with too much of a plan of ‘this is what I want to achieve’, as that could be quite dangerous. In the ideal world I’d like to progress through.” And manage United one day? “Oh, yes. It’s definitely appealing. Sounds crazy to think that if you asked me three years ago, even though I was starting my coaching badges, I’d have said ‘no chance’. But now? I wouldn’t be thinking any time soon.
“But as with my football career, I always thought [about playing for] Manchester United and in the end I got to play for them. Similar, to your coaching role, what path do you take? So, yes [United appeals]. It’s how the path goes. I’m really looking forward to it. It just feels right.
“I’ve got that spring in my step again, looking forward to next year, which is nice even though I’m finishing football. Up until a couple of years ago, I was thinking, ‘What am I going to do? Badges, maybe TV, move back to Newcastle?’ For Lisa and the kids it was, ‘What’s happening next, Dad?’ Now there’s that bit of stability.” Mourinho’s brought that.
At some point over the next few weeks, probably against Watford on May 13, Carrick will say farewell as a player to Old Trafford. “How am I going to be that last game? I don’t know. It might hit me then. At the minute I’m quite accepting of it really. I’m massively proud of what I’ve achieved here.
“There’s still the disappointment of having such a good spell to start with for seven years [five titles and the Champions League], to then the next few years … it still hurts me. Listen, we still won things, which is great. But it’s never enough, never enough. You always want more.”
www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/michael-carrick-it-was-a-no-brainer-joining-jose-mourinhos-coaching-staff-mnzb7wgcc