Michael Carrick says he’s ready to use Sir Alex Ferguson’s methods if the moment calls for it

Any time a Man Utd manager gets compared to Sir Alex Ferguson, that is as big a compliment as he can possibly get.

Carrick already knows he’s fighting his detractors who think he could be too much like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, so he’s being extra careful.

Be it bringing up the talk of his structure amidst his creative freedom, or stressing the importance of being present on the training pitch, Carrick is talking like a Man Utd manager.

He has now warned the squad that he could be more like Sir Alex rather than Solskjaer if the time and place demand it.

He was asked whether he had had to drop any of Sir Alex’s trademark “hairdryer” treatment on his players so far, and he kept his response equal parts fun and ominous.

He said: “The boys have been good with that, though, they’ve managed it really well, and kind of had the high of the win, come back into training, and focused on the next one, and we’ve got to keep that going.

“There’s a time and a place for everything [like giving the players the hairdryer treatment].”

Carrick’s next challenge: Responding to adversity

Up to this point, Carrick has responded well to each challenge thrown his way.

His performance against Manchester City showed he could prepare the team for a high-profile fixture. This season alone, beating Arsenal was no small feat; stopping Fulham’s momentum at Old Trafford and finding a way past Spurs’ low block weren’t easy either.

What hasn’t come up yet — and something United fans hope is still some way off — is how he would handle a squad going through a bad spell.

That doesn’t mean just reacting to one defeat, but rather showing that he can lead the team out of an extended run of poor results and keep everyone pulling in the same direction.

The question of how Carrick might handle that sort of situation could go a long way in determining how long his tenure lasts, and whether drawing on Sir Alex Ferguson’s approach will serve him well in those moments.