Cristiano Ronaldo predicted his former teammate Michael Carrick would become a “great coach” after briefly playing under him during his first spell as Manchester United’s caretaker manager.
The retired midfielder is set to return to the Old Trafford dugout after reports emerged that an impressive interview has seen him billed as the leading candidate above Ole Gunnar Solskjær and current interim Darren Fletcher.
Ronaldo made 127 appearances for United alongside Carrick during their three shared years at Old Trafford, winning a trio of Premier League trophies and the 2008 Champions League crown. The pair were reunited in November 2021 when the Red Devils hurriedly replaced one former player (Solskjær) with another (Carrick) for a fleeting three-game caretaker spell.
Carrick duly watched Ronaldo score the first goal of his brief tenure in a 2–0 win over Villarreal. The former England international had the gumption to name the veteran forward as a substitute for a trip to Stamford Bridge five days later but was rewarded with a brace from Ronaldo in a 3–2 victory over Arsenal in what proved to be his final match.
Following his final appearance under his old teammate, Ronaldo took to social media to post an impassioned appraisal of the departing boss. “Michael Carrick was a class act as a player and he can become a great coach as well,” the Portuguese star wrote.
“Nothing is impossible for this guy. Personally, I’m proud to have played with him by my side as well as with him as a manager on our bench.”
Ronaldo, it should be noted, wrote a an even more gushing message to mark the sacking of Solskjær a few weeks earlier: “He’s been my striker when I first came to Old Trafford and he’s been my coach since I came back to Man. United. But most of all, Ole is an outstanding human being. I wish him the best in whatever his life has reserved for him.”
Tellingly, there was no mention of any coaching prowess for the Norwegian boss.
Michael Carrick’s Managerial Record
| Statistic | Michael Carrick at Middlesbrough |
|---|---|
| Tenure | Oct. 25, 2022—June 4, 2025 |
| Games | 136 |
| Wins | 63 |
| Draws | 24 |
| Losses | 49 |
| Goals Scored | 220 |
| Goals Conceded | 177 |
| League Finishes | 4th, 8th, 10th |
It would take a very generous view of Carrick’s near three years at Middlesbrough, which represent the sum of his senior coaching career, to deem that Ronaldo’s prediction to be vindicated. However, a few months into his first season, it seemed a safer bet.
Having previously distanced himself from the position, Carrick took over the Championship outfit in October 2022 while they were teetering one point above the relegation zone. After ditching a divisive back-three formation (something United fans can relate to) the Tyneside-born coach steered Boro into the top four.
Middlesbrough would ultimately get knocked out of the playoff semi-finals by Coventry City, but the future seemed bright for Carrick and his upwardly mobile squad. A seven-game winless run to start the 2023–24 campaign soon quashed any lofty expectations.
The season would swing wildly across these extended peaks and troughs. Immediately after that ruinous start, Carrick oversaw six straight league wins, only the second time the club had achieved such a run in the previous 30 years. A sticky patch in February was balanced by a strong end to the season, but such inconsistency ensured that Boro failed to spend a single weekend above eighth, which was where they finished.
The Teesiders would enjoy a deep run to the Carabao Cup semi-finals, propelled largely by the emergence of a young Morgan Rogers. The future England international would be sold in February 2024 to Aston Villa, while Chuba Akpom and Emmanuel Latte Lath—Carrick’s top scorers at the end of his first two seasons in Middlesbrough—were also offloaded.
During Carrick’s three years in the north east, Boro were outspent by 10 different clubs and made the fifth-largest profit from player trading. It wasn’t a shoestring budget, but the departure of key figures certainly didn’t help his ultimately doomed plight for Premier League promotion.
Boro finished a lowly 10th in Carrick’s final season, the disappointment enhanced by the successful playoff run of local rivals Sunderland. In June it was announced that Carrick would part ways with the club, taking him one step further away from Ronaldo’s foretelling of great fortune.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Bold Prediction for Man Utd-Bound Michael Carrick.
