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Why I am leaving Manchester United – Michael Carrick

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Carrick celebrates with Fernandes at full-time

Michael Carrick intends to watch a Manchester United match from the away end again now he has left the club.

Carrick’s 15-and-a-half year United career ended with him guiding them to a 3-2 comeback win over Arsenal at Old Trafford in his final game as caretaker manager on Thursday night.

The 40-year-old ended his three-game stint with an unbeaten record, presiding over a 2-0 win at Villarreal that ensured qualification from the Champions League group stage, and a creditable 1-1 draw with Premier League leaders Chelsea.

Carrick won five Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Club World Cup during a garlanded 12 years as a player before he was promoted to the first-team coaching staff by Jose Mourinho in 2018.

An injured Carrick attended United’s 1-0 win at Anfield in January 2016 in the away end with his brother, Graeme, and Steve Bruce’s son, Alex, and intends to treat his son, Jacey, to a United away day.

“That’s one of my biggest things, my son’s desperate for me to take him, so it probably won’t be very long,” Carrick said. “I’ll be onto the players for tickets, try and nick some comps off them for the away end!

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“That’s the type of thing I’m looking forward to doing, spending time with my son, my daughter and my wife, things I’ve never been able to do because I’ve never been around.

“It’s 15-and-a-half years I’ve been here now and it literally takes over your life. It should do as well,” Carrick said. “I’ve dedicated everything I could possibly do as a player and then obviously as a coach.

“I promised my family when I was playing that after I’d finished playing, because you put so much into it, that I’d retire and we’d have a bit of time together. It never happened, I came straight into coaching. Just in kind of recent days, it’s just that feeling that the timing’s right, it feels right.

“It’s not been easy to make the decision in that respect but in terms of family and, how I feel right now, I’m really content and happy and looking forward to what’s ahead.

“It’s a rollercoaster, it’s been amazing. I’ve had incredible memories, some special nights. Tonight was obviously special but tonight wasn’t about me. It was the players and the fans, experiencing the type of nights which we should do.

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“”I told the coaches, the immediate first-team coaches, today at around lunchtime and then I told the players straight after the game. I didn’t want anything to be about me today. It was all about the players and getting the right result.

“I told them straight after the game in the changing room. It was emotional obviously, probably caught them off guard a little bit, but it’s a terrific group of players and I’m sure they’ll go on to great things.

“I’ll be supporting them. I’m not going anywhere, I’m still here, I’ll be supporting them home and away. My son is driving me mad to take him to an away game again. I’ve told the players I’ll be right behind them.”

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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