'It's like he's still got it' - Manchester United squad blown away by Michael Carrick's training sessions

Manchester United stars have quickly taken to Michael Carrick's approach to training since his return as interim manager

Carrick had previously coached at United under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before taking on a short caretaker spell following the Norwegian's dismissal in 2021, before then striking out on his own at Middlesbrough.

That previous coaching spell had given some of the longer-serving United players an idea of what Carrick would be like at Carrington after coming in for Ruben Amorim earlier this month - but the playing squad have nonetheless been pleasantly surprised.

Manchester United stars enjoying Michael Carrick's hands-on approach to training

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Unsurprisingly, given Carrick ranked at no.16 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League midfielders of all time, it seems the interim head coach has not lost his unerring passing ability despite having been retired for eight years.

That's according to United centre-back Harry Maguire, who has enjoyed the personal touch Carrick has brought to training since taking over.

Speaking on the club's in-house Inside Carrington podcast, Maguire said: "I knew he would do that just from the experience of knowing Michael and also knowing the way that he coached when he was here under Ole.

"He spoke really, really well in the dressing room when he spoke back then, and he was really just new into coaching then, so I had no surprises when he came in and the way that he spoke in his first meeting and the way the sessions have gone.

"I do think that he's got a great, great staff with him in terms of they're all on the same page and I've been really impressed with him."

That staff includes Gareth Southgate's former assistant Steve Holland, who of course is also familiar to several of the United squad from their time on England duty.

Maguire continued of Carrick: "He still does demos in passing drills and he still bangs it through the lines like he's still got it.

"He was doing the demos the other day, and I think he did two passes. Everyone did about 300, [but] I think his two were the best I've seen out of them all!

"But no, he's still got it and he's really hands-on in training.

"Also, you've got Steve as well there. When I was working with Steve [with] England, he was really hands-on in terms of taking most of the training sessions. So you've got two coaches there who like to get involved and I think it's really good."

Youngster Ayden Heaven has meanwhile spoken highly of two other familiar names in the coaching team, Jonny Evans and Jonathan Woodgate.

He said: "It's really good - Jonny especially, he's been helping me a lot. Me and Leny [Yoro], after some of the sessions, we go to do extras and just work on the basics.

"Even between drills, during their sessions, they're always pulling me to the side and helping me on my positioning.

"I've enjoyed it so far. They're a big help."