{"id":36355,"date":"2026-01-16T15:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=36355"},"modified":"2026-01-16T15:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:04:14","slug":"carrick-given-manchester-derby-baptism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=36355","title":{"rendered":"Carrick given Manchester derby baptism"},"content":{"rendered":"
Michael Carrick has the chance to make a fine first impression to his short-term stint as Manchester United manager by derailing local rivals Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge on Saturday.<\/p>\n

City, meanwhile, have the chance to cut the gap on leaders Arsenal to three points at Old Trafford, while United need the points to boost their chances of Champions League football next season.
\nAt the other end of the table, Tottenham’s Thomas Frank and West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo are fighting to save their jobs as the sides clash in a London derby.<\/p>\n

AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the weekend action:<\/p>\n

Carrick meets challenge ‘head on’<\/p>\n

Carrick faces a baptism of fire with the Premier League’s top two the opponents for his first two matches in charge of United.
\n“It’s what we live for (big games) – some are more challenging than others but it’s why we are here. So we’ll go for it head on,” said Carrick.
\nBefore a daunting trip to Arsenal next weekend, the former United and England midfielder has the chance to galvanise a season at risk of coming completely off the rails.
\nAn FA Cup exit to Brighton last weekend followed a run of just one win in six league games for United either side of Ruben Amorim’s dismissal.<\/p>\n

The Red Devils, however, remain well in contention for a place in next season’s Champions League, just three points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool.
\nCarrick was unbeaten in a previous three-game interim spell at United after the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021.
\nSince then he gained far more managerial experience at second-tier Middlesbrough, but was sacked in June for failing to achieve promotion to the Premier League.
\n“I understand the job, what it entails and the responsibility of it,” added Carrick. “Now I feel in a strong place to move forward and, hopefully, be successful here.”
\n\u00a0
\nJobs on the line
\nBoth Frank and Nuno have defied speculation over their futures to remain in charge for Saturday’s clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
\nSpurs have won just four of their last 17 games in all competitions to slip to 14th in the Premier League and bow out of both domestic cups.
\n\u00a0Frank is on the brink of joining a long list of managers who have failed to make the grade in north London, including Nuno, who lasted just 17 games as Tottenham boss in 2021.
\nThe Portuguese coach, already sacked once this season by Nottingham Forest, has managed just two wins in 16 Premier League games since joining the Hammers in September.
\nWest Ham desperately need a quick upturn in results as they sit seven points adrift of safety in 18th place,
\n\u00a0
\nCan Arsenal fell Forest?
\nTop of both the Premier League and Champions League, the Gunners are on course for an unprecedented quadruple after FA and League Cup victories this week.
\nBut Mikel Arteta’s men must overcome a poor record at the City Ground against a Forest side keen to make amends to their furious manager.
\nArsenal have won in just one of their last five visits to Nottingham.
\nForest were dumped out of the FA Cup by second-tier Wrexham on penalties last weekend, sparking an outburst from Sean Dyche.
\n“It’s unacceptable to me, but it’s unacceptable to the badge as well,” he said of his side’s first-half performance left them battling back from 2-0 down before drawing 3-3.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Carrick has the chance to make a fine first impression to his short-term stint as Manchester United manager by derailing local rivals Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge on Saturday. City, meanwhile, have the chance to cut the gap on leaders Arsenal to three points at Old Trafford, while United need the points to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}