‘MOURINHO DESERVES BACKING’
CARRICK AND MCKENNA ALREADY MAKING IMPACT ON TRAINING FIELD
MICHAEL Carrick and Kieran McKenna have had such resounding impacts as United’s first-team coaches the players want them to remain heavily involved as the club moves forwards.
Manager Jose Mourinho appointed former club captain Carrick, 37, and 32-year-old McKenna, previously the academy coach, in the summer to offset the loss of long-time assistant Rui Faria.
Although United have endured a turbulent time since pre-season, M.E.N. Sport understands Carrick and McKenna’s coaching has been well received and the pair have been described as ‘very popular’ less than two months into their new roles.
United captain Paul Pogba was complimentary about Carrick’s coaching impact following the April derby and budding holding midfielder Andreas Pereira revealed this month the five-time Premier League champion is helping him adjust to a new position.
Mourinho indicated towards the end of last season Carrick, who joined United in a £18.6m deal from Tottenham in 2006, would eventually become his assistant.
“I think it will be Michael Carrick in the future, when he has his badges, his Pro Licence, when he makes the bridge between a player to an assistant,” Mourinho said.
“People think it’s just like one day I’m a player and the next day I’m a coach, but it’s not like that.
“But I think naturally when Michael has the Pro Licence badges, normally with the personality he has, with the friendship, with our honesty, I think it will be for him.
“I do not like trained coaches, I like to shape them in my way of thinking and they grow with me and I also grow with them.”
Boyhood United fan McKenna was previously Tottenham’s youth coach and arrived at Old Trafford in 2016.
The Northern Irishman guided the Under-18s to the Premier League North title last term and rookies James Garner, Mason Greenwood, Tahith Chong, Joshua Bohui and RoShaun Williams made their senior bows on the pre-season tour of the US. Greenwood trained with the first-team again on Friday.
Uncertainty has surrounded Mourinho’s position at United but the club dismissed rumours they were planning on replacing him with the former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.
A United source said: “Why would we discuss Zidane when there is no job available?”