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Getty ImagesOle Gunnar Solskjaer congratulated Michael Carrick on his derby day victory and wished him every success this season, despite being overlooked as a replacement for Ruben Amorim at Manchester United.
Carrick got the nod ahead of Solskjaer to take over at United until the summer, with senior club staff believing the former England midfielder’s on-the-pitch coaching was a decisive factor.
That did not stop Solskjaer commending his former team-mate – and someone who was part of his own coaching team during almost three years in charge from 2018 – after the 2-0 win against rivals City last weekend.
“Yes, I’ve spoken to him,” said Carrick.
“We’re close. We’ve been through a lot together, so he’s been fully supportive as you would expect.
“He’s some man and I respect him an awful lot. He wished us all the best and was happy that we got the right result.”
Carrick knows Solskjaer is “there if ever I need him” but admits he is “not one that bothers a lot of people”.
Carrick will use his existing coaching team – including former England assistant Steve Holland and Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate – to come up with a strategy for beating Premier League leaders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
For all the plaudits he received for the much-deserved success against Manchester City, Carrick knows he cannot simply employ the same tactics again.
“It won’t be copy and paste,” he said.
“I’m never one that likes to say ‘same again’ because it’s never, ever the same again. Even if you come in half time and you’ve had a good performance for 45 minutes, the second half is not the same.
“We kept the game in good places last week and credit to the boys for that. But we’ve got to build on it. If we are our best, we feel we’ve got a good chance.”
