Patrice Evra urges Man Utd not to ‘become Chelsea’ with Michael Carrick decision | Football

Patrice Evra believes Manchester United would ‘become like Chelsea’ if they do not appoint Michael Carrick as permanent manager and start again with a new boss in the summer.

Carrick has been in interim charge since January and things have been going very well under his stewardship, with the Red Devils sitting third in the Premier League table.

Champions League qualification looked like a big ask when he took over from Ruben Amorim, but now it looks very likely after a win at Chelsea on Saturday.

Manchester United are 10 points clear of the Blues, who are sixth in the table and in a serious scrap for a European finish.

Opinion has been split on whether Carrick should be made permanent manager or a more experienced, high profile boss should be brought in.

Gary Neville has been vocal on wanting his former club to go down the latter path and hire an established winner at the elite level.

His fellow former Red Devils full-back, Evra, does not agree and reckons Carrick should be given the chance to lead the club next season.

The Frenchman wants to see consistency and faith shown in a boss, unlike what he sees at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Evra said of bringing in a new manager: ‘We’ll have to start from zero again. I just feel like we’ll become like Chelsea, every year. And this is not United, we need consistency. Carra is doing miracles!’

The 44-year-old has seen his former club appoint extremely high profile managers in the past, to little success, and believes Carrick is carrying out the perfect audition for the role.

‘I don’t know why they think too much about the future. The present is Carra to get the top four spot. That’s the goal and I think we are in a good direction for that,’ he said.

‘We keep saying experience or whatever. We try with big names, with [Jose] Mourinho, with [Louis] Van Gaal, with Amorim. That’s why, for me, should Carra get the job? This is not the question of the day, of the moment.

‘Carra is doing a good job so let’s be behind him and then at the end of the season if he doesn’t qualify the team [for the Champions League] then I will understand if some people say we need a new manager.

‘But I don’t know if it will work. Personally I couldn’t believe the first game against [Manchester] City, the way we played, I was like, wow! All the players are passionate. Even if you bring an amazing tactician or big name, it didn’t work in the past.

‘Why we don’t have someone from the house? He knows the club, he’s really calm and he’s doing a good job.’

Evra even suggests that there is no need to try and find a manager in order to win the Premier League next season as that is almost certainly out of reach for the current squad.

‘Do we need someone to win straight away? Do we have the players to win the Premier League? That’s what I mean,’ he said.

‘Amorim, every player he bought, now we see the quality of those players, so Carrick is doing a good job with them. Give him a chance.’

Neville was touting the likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Luis Enrique as possible new managers at Old Trafford, but they are now expected to sign new contracts with Brazil and PSG respectively.

The former England defender still feels United should be targeting a proven world-class boss, but is coming round to the idea of Carrick staying on.

‘There were a number of candidates that presented, probably two or three months ago, that maybe aren’t on the table anymore,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘They’ve renewed their contracts in jobs. I think they still should be pursuing a world-class manager, someone who is best in class.

‘If Manchester United can get someone who has won Champions Leagues on a regular basis or who has won titles in their own country on a regular basis, they should still pursue that route. But I have to say, the more the candidates dwindle away, the more Michael gets toward third place, there are more advantages of keeping him.’

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