Carrick’s tip for Reds skipper
VETERAN MAKES SUCCESSOR PREDICTION /UTD SPECIAL:
MICHAEL Carrick has only just been handed the armband at United - but he can already see a future captain in the ranks.
The veteran midfielder was natural choice to succeed Wayne Rooney as skipper, as the longest serving player in Jose Mourinho’s squad.
But the 35-year-old is a shortterm appointment - given his age and the fact that he is only guaranteed to by at Old Trafford for one more season.
Carrick also accepts he will not be among Mourinho’s starting XI on a weekly basis - meaning the captaincy is likely to be spread around the squad in the coming season.
While Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera and David de Gea will all be contenders for the role - Carrick sees Paul Pogba as a natural fit in the future. The Frenchman has emerged as the marquee player in a United squad that has been shorn of two hugely-influential characters in Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic this summer.
Carrick believes he could take on that responsibility.
“He’s certainly got the presence, character and belief to pull it off,” he said.
“All the time, I’m sure the manager is planning a long way behind me, for someone to take on that mantle and he’s probably in that bracket where you’d say - ‘yeah, he can be a future captain.’
Pogba has been the star attraction for fans in the US flanked by as many as five security guards at times and mobbed for autographs and pictures.
The world’s most expensive player endured criticism in his
first season after his £89m move from Juventus - but Carrick is convinced the former United academy star will only grow into his role at the club.
“You need that inner confidence and inner belief,” he said.
“You’re going to take some knocks, suffer some bumps and bruises along the way and take a lot of criticism.
“But you have to fight that off and be strong enough to get on with the job and believe in yourself.
“Obviously, Paul is a confident lad, so yeah, over time he’s going to be a great player for this club and have a big season this season. He’s had a year to adjust.
“I know he was here as a kid, but a lot has gone on since then and he’s played a lot of different football since then.
“So to come back with all the scrutiny he had last year and everything surrounding it, it was probably always going to be one of those years where you take time to settle in and improve.
“I think we’ve seen the improvement and we’ll see it again next season.”
It’s the belief within the club that Pogba can have the sort of influence Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo had at United and become a talisman for a new era of success.
“There’s certain players you’ll never replace, like-for-like,” added Carrick.
“Big players have left this club over a number of years and we’ve not necessarily looked to bring someone in as a direct replacement.
“You’ve got to move on and adjust and find a new way of doing things sometimes.
“You can’t just produce another Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo from nowhere, someone else has to come in and do things their way.
“Like with me. Roy Keane left and I came in - but I was totally different to him.
“You find a way of moving on. That’s the challenge with this club.”