In the aftermath of an uplifting Manchester derby win, Michael Carrick addressed his players in the home dressing-room at Old Trafford and spoke with what was described as calm authority.
The message to them was simple, and one he would repeat in front of the cameras.
‘It’s really important we don’t get carried away,’ said Carrick. ‘It’s one game. That level of performance needs to be a version of normal.’
Carrick has been here before, of course. He was on the coaching staff in March 2019 when a miraculous Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain went a long way towards landing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the Manchester United job on a permanent basis.
He witnessed the euphoric scenes that night. The cameras panning to a jubilant Sir Alex Ferguson celebrating in the stands at the Parc des Princes, just as they did as United beat Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Carrick was there to help pick up the pieces when it proved to be another false dawn in what must feel like a depressing cycle since Ferguson stepped down nearly 13 years ago.
He replaced Solskjaer for three games as caretaker coach before leaving the club he loves after more than 15 years’ service.
He signed off with a 2-0 Champions League win over Unai Emery’s Villarreal, followed by a 1-1 draw with Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea and a 3-2 victory over Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Now we can throw in a comprehensive 2-0 eclipse of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Carrick’s record in charge of United doesn’t look too shabby at all.
What made Saturday’s momentous victory in the 198th Manchester derby all the more remarkable is that it came just three days after Carrick walked back into the building after he was installed ahead of Solskjaer as head coach until the end of the season.
Shortly after his appointment was confirmed on Tuesday evening, MUTV aired an interview in which the new 44-year-old boss predicted how he would galvanise his players to beat City.
‘Actually it comes down to the basics, the fundamentals,’ said Carrick. ‘Treating people right, respect people, look after each other and fight for each other.
‘It needs to be underpinned by a foundation that we're all in it together and we're fighting for everything we can get.’
That’s been the vibe under Carrick. Unity and positivity. None of the agonising over back threes and fours that came became a millstone around Ruben Amorim’s neck, and eventually dragged the Portuguese coach under.
Yes, there were key selection decisions and important tactical tweaks. But essentially Carrick has taken United back to the basics that were so important when he was a player under Ferguson.
He knew that United had to stop City playing by working together to deny them space, close them down quickly in possession and then counter-attack to maximum effect. Not since the 2024 FA Cup final win over City has a United performance inspired such optimism.
‘You hear everyone, especially us as ex-players, talk about the United DNA and that has just shown what it is,’ his former teammate Wayne Rooney told the BBC.
‘Work-rate off the ball, wingers getting back filling in and helping out the full-backs, the shape, the desire to get back and double up and help out your teammates, tackle and run without the ball as quickly backwards and you do forwards.’
Preparation had started as soon as Carrick drove back into Carrington on Wednesday morning with the clock already ticking down to Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
The players were returning from a day off and he called them together to speak about what a privilege it is to represent Manchester United.
Rather like Solskjaer when he retuned to the club in 2018 to rid United of the toxicity of Jose Mourinho, and spoke to staff after receiving a thunderous welcome at the Christmas party, Carrick stressed the importance of enjoying coming to work each day.
He informed the players that from now on training will be shorter but more intense in nature.
According to insiders, it was immediately clear from the first session that there was a different energy on the pitch.
They were introduced to the new coaching team after Steve Holland came in as Carrick’s No 2, with Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans as his first-team coaches.
Sources say there is a great blend of skillsets and personalities between the staff, and believe a strong dynamic is already developing between them.
There has been more focus on individual work with specific players in training, and the squad are said to have been impressed by the level of detail shown.
Asked about the difference between Carrick and Amorim, Lisandro Martinez said: ‘Different mentality, different guy. So different.
‘When you have a coach like Michael Carrick, who really knows, who really can share with you the energy of the club and what it means, it's so different.
‘He was quiet (in training). He was smiling. He was really confident – and that helps a lot.’
Carrick is a very different animal to Amorim, less prone to outbursts of emotion.
Despite his sunny demeanour in public, Amorim could be aloof with the players and continuously ruffled feathers with his public remarks about them.
He felt the ‘anxiety’ every time Patrick Dorgu touched the ball, Kobbie Mainoo couldn’t play as a No 6, Benjamin Sesko was ‘a control freak’ and the academy players were ‘entitled’.
That wasn’t Ferguson’s way and it won’t be Carrick’s either. They prefer a siege mentality. Us against them. Everyone stick together.
‘I am here, and the staff are here to help them, support them and to push them,’ said Carrick. ‘That was the message: we are all in it together.’
It was worth noting that Dorgu had his best game in a United shirt – upstaging City’s new £62.5m signing Antoine Semenyo – and scored the second goal.
Carrick handed Mainoo his first Premier League start since May and was rewarded with an excellent performance alongside Casemiro.
‘I think Kobbie is a fantastic player. He has huge talent, he has huge ability. I am looking forward to seeing him thrive,’ said Carrick, showing the 20-year-old the TLC he must have been craving under Amorim.
On Thursday, the new coach met with co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer, and minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Carrington after United moved their executive committee meeting from Monaco to the training ground to minimise any distractions ahead of the derby.
The Old Trafford hierarchy had decided to replace Amorim with a United man who was familiar with the club and could settle in quickly. They could hardly have dreamt he would get off to such a spectacular start.
Ahead of the game, Carrick had his pre-match press conference on Friday – the third different coach to face the media at Carrington in as many weeks after Darren Fletcher stepped in as caretaker following Amorim’s sacking.
He neatly sidestepped questions about Roy Keane saying that Carrick’s wife Lisa could step in if his appointment didn’t work out ‘because she's got a bit of a big mouth sometimes’.
Already, though, there was discontent among the United players over the personal nature of some comments from ex-players, which was clear from Martinez’s angry response to Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
Senior players have encouraged the younger ones not to let it affect them, while expressing frustration that pundits are too ready to kick the club while its down.
Ahead of the game, Carrick told the squad about one more change to the schedule: he instructed them to report to Carrington a little later than normal on Saturday morning.
Only by 15 minutes, but he wanted the team bus to arrive a little later at Old Trafford so the players weren’t hanging around before kick-off.
Ironically, City’s bus was still edging through heavy traffic on the approach to the stadium an hour and 20 minutes before the match was due to start.
Carrick had spoken beforehand about the magic and mystique of Old Trafford, and his message to the players was to use that to their advantage.
‘I think one important thing that he said was “use the energy of the people” and I think we did it,’ said Martinez. ‘When we are together like this it is impossible to lose at home.
‘He wants to help the club and I think we were in a tough situation, and today was the best moment to change that.’
Carrick stuck with the more familiar 4-2-3-1 system reintroduced in the previous two games by Fletcher, and brought back Harry Maguire to shore up his defence.
‘I felt it was a game for experience and knowing what it feels like,’ said Carrick after seeing Maguire and Martinez nullify Erling Haaland.
Pushing Bruno Fernandes back into his preferred position at No.10 paid dividends after Amorim had blunted his captain’s attacking threat by using him deeper in a four-man midfield.
There was a risk of Casemiro and Mainoo being isolated – as was often the case under Erik ten Hag – but United worked hard to flood the spaces around them whenever City threatened. Senne Lammens hardly had a save to make.
Carrick had the benefit of Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo returning from the Africa Cup of Nations after a month away, and both were excellent.
He took the bold decision to play Mbeumo through the middle while dropping Matheus Cunha and Sesko to the bench. The Cameroon international scored the first, and Cunha came on to set up Dorgu for the second.
Diallo, Fernandes and Mason Mount all had goals ruled out, while Maguire and Diallo hit the woodwork.
Amorim preferred not to talk to the players after a game, except for the odd occasion like when he broke a dressing-room TV in anger a year ago.
Carrick, though, wanted to speak to them before facing the media again. ‘It made me proud,’ he said. ‘The boys give absolutely everything in so many ways.
‘Three days to prepare, little bits of information here and there, and they took everything on board tactically and emotionally.’
The overriding message was not to get carried away, and that is being shared throughout the club. Not after all those false dawns.
Arsenal are next up at the Emirates. Judging by his track record, Carrick will fancy his chances.