MICHAEL CARRICK has made the trip that Ruben Amorim never did by watching Manchester United’s Under-21s take on Sporting Lisbon.
Carrick, 44, has already beaten United’s former head coach Amorim by turning up to Leigh Sports Village on a cold Tuesday night.
Amorim, who was sacked on January 5, never sat in the stands in Leigh, Greater Manchester during his 14 months in charge.
The Portuguese head coach only watched one Under-21s match, making the short walk across the pitches at Carrington to watch Travis Binnion’s side take on Southampton’s U21s.
Amorim was accused of not valuing the academy enough during his hellish stint in the Old Trafford dugout.
That was despite handing out plenty of debuts to academy graduates during injury crisis moments.
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He memorably said there was a culture of entitlement within the club when asked about Chido Obi and Harry Amass’ retaliatory social media posts.
Erik ten Hag once made the trip to Altrincham in 2024, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was a regular supporter of the youth set-up.
Carrick was joined by United’s director of football Jason Wilcox and former first-team caretaker Darren Fletcher.
Fletcher returned to his previous gig in charge of the U18s following his former team-mate’s arrival in the Old Trafford dugout.
Wilcox, meanwhile, is a regular visitor to Leigh, following on from his six-year spell as Man City’s academy director before he left for Southampton in 2023
Carrick’s No2 Steve Holland and fellow first-team coach Jonathan Woodgate were also spotted among the entourage.
The short-term boss, wearing United’s club tracksuit, was the last to arise out of the box after Wilcox, academy director Stephen Torpey and Binnion.
Ironically, the young Red Devils were taking on their age counterparts at Amorim’s former club Sporting.
Fletcher’s sons Jack and Tyler were both named in the starting XI.
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