Hey Soccer Fans – it was a busy holiday season that had me on the road for the better part of 3 weeks so I am just back to getting the Ole Ballcoach in Gear for 2026. I will kick in some end of year stuff as we go over the next few weeks – but in the meantime – here are the games to watch – full TV schedule for the next week and where all the American’s will be playing across the globe. Hope you had a safe holiday and are ready for a Happy New Year!
Around the World of Soccer
Sad to see Ricardo Pepi break his right arm as he looks to be out a spell – hope he gets back in time for the World Cup. Pulisic is still on fire and stands 2nd in Serie A in goals at 8 despite playing just over half the minutes of the leaders. Chris Richards was justifyably named US Player of the Year for his success with Crystal Palace and solidifying a spot in the back with the US team. Now if only Trusty or Robinson or someone will step up alongside. Crazy to see all the firings in Europe first at Man U with Carrick in charge now, Chelsea with Liam Rosenior, Spalleti at Juve, then Real Madrid (Alonso was so hot with Leverkusen) has been replaced by Alvaro Arbeloa – just wow. Speaking of Carrick it would be huge if he could upset Man City in the Manchester Derby Sat 7:30 am at home. Wouldn’t that be great! Switching to the ladies it was great to see Rose Lavelle won the US Women’s Player of the Year (read below)– and also Great to see Lindsay Horan (Heaps now) is coming home to the US from Europe – check out this Video. I promise more content next week.
US Women’s Coach Emma Hayes names Roster for Jan 24 vs Paraguay & Jan 27 vs Chile Games
The roster features the return of forward Trinity Rodman, who played in just one USWNT match in 2025, a 2-0 victory over Brazil at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. In that match, she scored the game-winning goal. Rodman, 23, has the most caps (47) and goals (11) of anyone on the roster. The other 22 field players on the roster have a combined 17 international goals. As the January training camp falls outside a FIFA competition window, Hayes named a roster made up entirely of players from the National Women’s Soccer League, with Rodman currently unattached, including four first-time call-ups in forwards Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign FC) and Reilyn Turner (Portland Thorns FC) and midfielders Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage) and Sally Menti (Seattle Reign FC). Dahlien and Jackson featured in all five U.S. U-23 WNT events in 2025 and were on the roster for the January 2025 Futures Camp in Florida.
2026 January Training Camp Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign FC; 6) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals; 4), Jordan Silkowitz (Bay FC; 0)
DEFENDERS (8): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign FC; 5/0), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash; 9/1), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current; 1/1), Tara Rudd (Washington Spirit; 9/0), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride; 7/0), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; 4/0), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave FC; 2/0), Kate Wiesner (Washington Spirit; 2/0)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit; 5/0), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit; 3/0), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; 11/1), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; 0/0), Lo’eau LaBonta (Kansas City Current; 4/0), Sally Menti (Seattle Reign FC; 0/0), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign FC; 2/0), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 11/5)
FORWARDS (7): Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign FC; 0/0), Jameese Joseph (Chicago Stars FC; 1/0), Trinity Rodman (Unattached; 47/11), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash; 15/2), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC; 12/4), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current; 13/4), Reilyn Turner (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0)
=
GAMES ON TV
Sat, 1/17
7:30 am Man United vs Man City
8 am ESPN+ REal MAdrid vs Levante
9 am Para+ Udinese vs Inter Milan
9:30 am ESPN+ MGladback (Reyna, Scalley) vs Hamburger
10 am USA Liverpool vs Burnley
10 am Peacock Leeds United (Aaronson) vs Fulham (Jedi)
10 am Peacock Sunderland vs Crystal Palace (Richards)
12:30 pm NBC Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal
12:30 pm ESPN+ RB Leipzig vs Bayern Munich
2:45 pm Para+ Cagliari vs Juventus (Mckinney)
Sun, Jan 18
9 am USA Wolverhampton vs New Castle
10:15 am ESPN+, Des Athletico (Cardosa) vs Alaves
11:30 am USA Aston Villa vs Everton
2:45 pm Para+ AC Milan (Pulisic) vs Lecce
3 pm ESPN+, Des Real Sociedad vs Barcelona
8 pm TUDN Pachuca vs America ( )
Mon, 1/19
3 pm USA Brighton vs Bournemouth
Tues, Jan 20- CHAMPS LEAGUE
12:45 pm CBSSN, Para+ Glint vs Man City
3 pm Uni, Para+, Real Madrid vs Monaco (Folagon)
3 pm Para+ Sporting CP vs PSG
3 pm Para+ Villarreal vs Ajax
Wed, Jan 21 Champs League
12:45 pm CBSSN, Para Galatasaray vs Atletico Madrid (Cardosa)
3 pm Para+ Juventus (Mckinney) vs Benefica
3 pm CBSSN New Castle United vs PSV (Dest)
3 pm Para Atalanta vs Athletic Club
3 pm Chelsea vs Paphos
3 pm Liverpool vs Marseille ()
Thurs, 1/22 Europa
12:45 pm Bologna vs Celtic (Trusty)
12:45 pm Para+ Fenerbache cs Aston Villa
12:45 pm Para+ Young Boys vs Lyonnais (Tessman)
3 pm CBSSN Roma vs Stuttgart
3 pm Para+ Celta Vigo vs Lille
3 pm Para+ Nottingham Forest vs Braga
3 pm Para+ Rangers vs Lodogorets
Sat, Jan 24
5:30 pm TNT, HBO, Peacock USA Women vs Paraguay
Tues, Jan 27
10 pm TBS, HBO, Peacock USA Women vs Chile
Sun, Mar 1 She Believes Cup Starts
5 pm TNT, HBO, Peacock USA Women vs Argentina
Wed, Mar 4 She Believes Cup
7 pm TNT, HBO, Peacock USA Women vs Canada (Columbus, OH)
Sat, Mar 7 She Believes Cup
3:30 pm TBS, HBO, Peacock USA Women vs Colombia
Sat, Mar 28
3:30 pm TNT, HBO, Peacock USA Men vs Belgium
Tues, Mar 31
7 pm TNT, HBO, Peacock USA Men vs Portugal
Sun, May 31
3:30 pm TNT, HBO, Peacock USA Men vs Senegal
Sat, June 6
2:30 pm TNT, HBO, Peacock USA Men vs Germany in Chicago
Sat, June 12 WORLD CUP
9 pm Fox, Tele, Peacock USA Men vs Paraguay World Cup
USMNT weekend viewing guide: Full steam ahead
Head to head matchups in the EPL and Bundesliga Stars & Stripes
Getty Images
There is a wealth of action on Saturday, including several head-to-head matchups.
Saturday
Coventry City v Leicester City – 7:30a on CBSSN: Haji Wright hasn’t scored since October and Coventry City are on a three match winless streak but the team still hold a six point lead in the English Championship heading into their matchup with twelfth place Leicester.
Wolfsburg v Heidenheim – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Kevin Paredes has come off the bench in Wolfsburg’s last two matches as he gets back to game fitness. Wolfsburg fell to Bayern Munich 8-1 in Paredes’s return but defeated St. Pauli 2-1 last weekend to move up to eleventh place in the table. They face last place Heidenheim this weekend.
Borussia Dortmund v St. Pauli – 9:30a on ESPN Select: James Sands and St. Pauli are tied with Mainz and Heidenheim on twelve points at the bottom of the Bundesliga table. They will face second place Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. Sands has started nearly every match for St. Pauli this season, missing just one due to concussion but St. Pauli’s results have been lacking with just three wins on the season and only one since mid-September.
Hamburger v Borussia Monchengladbach – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Gio Reyna did not make it off the bench midweek in Gladbach’s 5-1 loss to Hoffenheim and played just 5 minutes off the bench last wweekend in their 4-0 win over Augsburg. However, Joe Scally continues to see regular starts for the club who are currently in tenth place heading into their visit to fourteenth place Hamburg.
Hoffenheim v Bayer Leverkusen – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Cole Campbell was held out last weekend in his first match with Hoffenheim so we may be deprived of a USYNT v USMNT matchup this weekend as Hoffenheim host Malik Tillman and sixth place Leverkusen. Tillman picked up an assist last weekend but Leverkusen fell to Stuttgart 4-1 last Saturday to drop out of the top four.
Koln v Mainz – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Kristoffer Lund and twelfth place Koln face 16th place Mainz and Lennard Maloney on Saturday. Maloney has just six minutes in the last three matches for Mainz who have not been able to pull themselves out of relegation but are coming off a 2-1 win over Heidenheim. Meanwhile, Lund has played in thirteen straight for Koln who are winless in the past eight as they’ve slid down the table.
Sunderland v Crystal Palace – 10a on Peacock: Chris Richards has missed the last four league matches for Palace who are on a six match winless streak but he was on the field last weekend in Palace’s embarrassing 2-1 loss to sixth tier Macclesfield in the FA Cup. Palace have fallen to thirteenth place in the league table with their recent slide and will be facing tenth place Sunderland on Saturday.
Leeds United v Fulham – 10a on Peacock: Brenden Aaronson and sixteenth place will host Antonee Robinson and ninth place Fulham on Saturday. Aaronson has three goals in his last two matches for Leeds though they fell to Newcastle 4-3 despite his Brace ten days ago. On the other side, Robinson returned six matches ago and has started every match since with Fulham undefeated over that span with fourteen points as they’ve risen from fifteenth place to the top ten.
Toulouse v Nice – 1p on beIN Sports: Mark McKenzie and Toulouse defeated Angers in penalties to advance in the Coupe de France last weekend with McKenzie wearing the captains armband. McKenzie has started nearly every match for Toulouse who are in eighth place in the league standings.
Fortuna Sittard v PSV – 2p on ESPN Select: Ricardo Pepi broke his arm while scoring last weekend and is expected to miss about two months for recovery but Sergino Dest continues to start week in and week out for PSV who have won twelve straight matches and are now running away with the league title.
Cagliari v Juventus – 2:45p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie may be on the move this January as rumors are swirling about interest from the Premier league as well as elsewhere in Italy as reports are that he won’t be resigning with Juventus when his current contract expires in six months. In the meantime of course he continues to start for Juventus and scored and assisted last weekend in Juve’s 5-0 win over Cremonese. Juventus are in fourth place and will face sixteenth place Cagliari on Saturday.
Angers v Olympique Marseille – 3:05p on beIN Sports: Tim Weah has started five straight for Marseille who maintain their third place spot despite falling to Nantes last weekend. They are tied on points at fourth place Lille at this point with the top three automatically qualifying for the Champions League positions.
Sunday
Atletico Madrid v Deportivo Alaves – 10:15a on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Select: Johnny Cardoso saw 30’ off the bench last weekend and got the start midweek in Copa del Ray action but he has just two league appearances since August. Atletico drew with Real Sociedad last weekend and are in fourth place, three points back of third, and eleven back of league leading Barcelona.
Augsburg v Freiburg – 11:30a on ESPN Select: After starting the first five matches of the season on the bench Noahkai Banks has started 12 straight matches for Augsburg. It has not all been smooth sailing as Augsburg have just three wins in that time and are currently only three points ahead of the relegation zone but Banks has been getting key developmental minutes in the Bundesliga was still being just nineteen. Augsburg host ninth place Freiburg this weekend who are coming off a 2-0 loss to RB Leipzig.
Olympique Lyon v Brest – 2:45p on beIN Sports: After missing a few matches due to “dead leg” Tanner Tessmann came in off the bench in Lyon’s 3-1 win over Monaco last weekend and then started midweek in the teams Coupe de France victory over fellow Ligue 1 side Lille. Lyon remain in fifth place as they host eleventh place Brest on Sunday.
AC Milan v Lecce – 2:45p on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic received a rare day off on Thursday as AC Milan defeated Como 3-1 to keep pace with Inter at the top of the table, remaining three points back of the league leaders. On Sunday they will host Lecce who are three points ahead of Fiorentina for the final relegation spot.
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USA
US Soccer Male Player of the Year Chris Richards
USSC Young Male P of Y Ben Cremaschi
|USMNT’s Pepi suffers broken arm scoring for PSV
McKennie scores but David misses pen in Juventus draw with Lecce
USMNT’s Sargent banished to Norwich U21s amid transfer standoff
Hayes Names 26-Player USWNT Training Camp Roster For January Matches vs Paraguay & Chile
SheBelieves Cup: U.S. to play Canada, Colombia
Rodman returns to USWNT for January friendlies
Midfielder Rose Lavelle Voted 2025 U.S. Soccer Female Player; Defender Lilly Reale Voted U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year,
Five Best Moments from Christen Press’ Historic USWNT Career
Orlando Pride trade USWNT’s Sams to Angel City
USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps signs with Denver
World
Why did Man United, Chelsea, Real Madrid all sack their managers? It’s about culture
Michael Carrick won’t rule out long-term Man United stay
Carrick shrugs off criticism from ex-United players
Laurens’ weekend preview: Madrid’s redemption? Carrick’s debut
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Josh Sargent’s Norwich transfer saga: What we’re hearing about the wantaway USMNT striker
Sally Rawlins / Getty Images The Athletic By Paul Tenorio and Tom BogertJan. 15, 2026
U.S. men’s national team striker Josh Sargent has made it quite clear that he wants out of Norwich City, but the move he desires might not happen as soon as he hopes.MLS side Toronto FC has made an $18 million offer for the striker, who finished in the EFL Championship team of the season last year. But Norwich insists it is not going to part with the team’s starting forward in the middle of the season — and especially not as it attempts to fight its way out of the relegation zone.The transfer saga kicked off last weekend. Sargent messaged Norwich manager Philippe Clement ahead of Norwich’s FA Cup game against Walsall on Sunday to say he was not available for the game. After the game, Clement insisted Sargent would not move in this window.“He sent me a message to say that he was not available today because of transfer things that are in his head,” Clement said. “We need to speak about that this week inside the club.“The club has been really clear about that. We know which situation we are in. Him and his agent know the situation, so he will not leave in this transfer window.”Sources at the club backed their manager’s statement, saying that Sargent is not for sale.The MLS primary transfer window is open through March 26, meaning this saga could in theory extend into the spring. Toronto’s $18 million bid would be the third largest fee in MLS history, trailing Son Heung-min ($26.5 million) and Emmanuel Latte Lath ($22 million plus add-ons). Latte Lath came to Atlanta United from Middlesbrough, also in the Championship.While any potential final fee will be among the highest in MLS history, Norwich views it as below the market rate given the player’s output, pedigree, age and recent transfer interest.
Sargent’s season with Norwich City has been a mix of goals and frustrationStephen Pond / Getty Images
Sargent has scored 51 goals in the Championship over the last three-and-a-half seasons. The 25-year-old initially came to England from Werder Bremen, where the St. Louis native began his professional career.Sargent had the opportunity to return to Germany in the summer. Wolfsburg had a $28 million bid accepted by Norwich and personal terms were generally agreed. At the final stage, Sargent opted to stay at Norwich for personal reasons. Half a year later, with Norwich surprisingly locked in a relegation battle, the situation has changed.It’s not the first time Sargent has been close to a move across the Atlantic. In the summer of 2024, FC Cincinnati pushed hard for the American forward — its bid was north of $20 million — and personal terms would have been no issue, but Norwich demanded more than $25 million to even get its attention in negotiations.Norwich feels confident that it wouldn’t lose too much market value waiting for the summer window and, with the team in a susceptible position in the table and Sargent under contract through 2028, the club is set on avoiding a precedent by allowing a player to force a move. Saturday’s match at Wrexham will indicate whether his stance on playing for the club again has changed over the last week — and it could indicate that the game of chicken is now on between player and club.USMNT’s World Cup Roster PictureUSA World Cup roster battle exposes key questions for Mauricio PochettinoThe fight for World Cup roster spots will continue into 2026 for the USMNT
Norwich has added incentive to keep him as it digs out of a hole in the table. The club fired manager Liam Manning after starting the season with just two wins, two draws and 11 losses in the first 15 games. Clement was hired on Nov. 18, and the team is 4-4-3 since then, but remains in the drop zone with 24 points while having played at least one more match than the clubs it is chasing. (Sargent’s form has been rather the opposite: he started the season with six goals in his first five games in all competitions. Since then, he has scored just twice.)Nevertheless, Toronto has long identified Sargent as a top target this winter in its search for a designated player at the No. 9 position, the potential crown jewel of a rebuild and rebirth back to prominence in MLS after being one of the league’s defining teams in the late 2010s.The Canadian club, finally able to move forward into a new era, has rebuilt a broken locker room and trimmed a lot of fat from a bloated salary cap that included disastrous deals for Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. The Italians departed in the summer, while several more bad contracts expired this winter to give Toronto further flexibility.The 2026 season was the light at the end of the tunnel after missing the playoffs five straight seasons, cycling through four permanent head coaches and two long stints under interim managers.
Sargent’s goal drought with the USMNT stretches back to 2019Michael Owens / Getty Images
American attacker Djordje Mihailovic arrived in the summer for an $8 million cash trade from the Colorado Rapids. Ecuador international midfielder Jose Cifuentes soon followed. A permanent transfer for Canadian international winger Theo Corbeanu was sealed this winter after a strong debut season on loan, and then TFC added one of the marquee defensive free agents, Walker Zimmerman, to anchor the back line. Brazilian left back Matheus Pereira is the other key offseason signing.Adding a player of Sargent’s quality could build on this solid foundation and once again make TFC a contender in the Eastern Conference – but it’s not going to happen without Norwich’s sign-off, something that as of now is not going to materialize.For Sargent, the hope would be that a move to MLS might reignite his hopes of making the U.S.’s World Cup roster in the summer. Sargent has not scored for the U.S. since 2019. Even during his best runs of form with Norwich, the goals haven’t come. Sargent, in the meantime, has fallen behind Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright and potentially even fellow Championship striker Patrick Agyemang in the pecking order for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.If Sargent, who started two games at the 2022 World Cup, wants a shot at making the 2026 team, he’ll need to be on the field banging in goals — whether in England with the Canaries or elsewhere.
Chris Richards named U.S. Soccer’s 2025 Male Player of the Year
Omar Vega / Getty Images
By Henry Bushnell Jan. 14, 2026
Chris Richards, who over the last year emerged as a mainstay for both Crystal Palace and the U.S. men’s national team, has been named U.S. Soccer’s 2025 Male Player of the Year. The 25-year-old defender won the annual award over USMNT teammates Malik Tillman, Alex Freeman, Max Arfsten and Matt Freese, the other finalists. Richards earned it based on his play for the national team, but also his achievements in England for Crystal Palace, which he helped to an FA Cup title – the club’s first major trophy in its multi-century history – and August’s Community Shield.Richards started 45 games for Palace in the calendar year, entrenching himself as the right-sided center back in coach Oliver Glasner’s back three. The Birmingham, Ala., native also started 11 games for the national team, captained the U.S. once and was the most consistent player throughout the Concacaf Gold Cup. He started all six games en route to the final, emerged as a leader and scored in that final — which the U.S. ultimately lost to Mexico, 2-1.Richards received 48.6 percent of a weighted vote, quite comfortably beating Tillman (21.7 percent) and Freeman (13), the two next closest in the running. The winner is chosen by a weighted combination of national team members, coaches, fans, media, former players, the U.S. Soccer board of directors, the U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, and pro league coaches and sporting directors.Richards was presented with the word of his honor on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show, where he was an unsuspecting guest.“It means the world to me,” said Richards, who joins current U.S. teammates Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Zack Steffen as winners of the award. He’s the second consecutive defender to win it after Robinson, and he’s looking ahead to 2026 and this summer’s World Cup with bigger goals in mind.“As a defender people tend to say it’s a lot of pressure, but I think pressure builds diamonds,” Richards added. “That’s something that with this team, with this country – we’re Americans. We like to win, we like to scrap, we like to fight, and that’s definitely what we’re going to do in the summer and hopefully by the end of it we’re holding a big trophy.”By Henry Bushnell
Manchester United vs Manchester City: Tactical battles? Key players? Impact of derby atmosphere?
Bruno Fernandes and Antoine Semenyo are likely to be key figures in this weekend’s Manchester derby Carl Recine, Stu Forster/Getty Images
Jan. 16, 2026 8:00 am EST
It is straight into the thick of it for Michael Carrick as Manchester United’s new interim head coach, as he finds himself charged with the task of besting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Saturday.
On top of the removal of head coach Ruben Amorim, three underwhelming Premier League draws in a row and elimination from the FA Cup at the first hurdle leave United in desperate need of a performance to lift fans’ spirits. For City, a win at Old Trafford is necessary to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal, before their trip to Nottingham Forest later in the day. Their own run of three consecutive league draws has cost them momentum (and points) in the title race.
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Ahead of the 198th Manchester derby, our United writer Carl Anka and City counterpart Sam Lee preview some of the big talking points.
How will your club handle the derby atmosphere?
Carl Anka: These are troubled times for Manchester United. This derby is the first of Michael Carrick’s 17 matches as interim head coach over the remainder of the season, as co-owner INEOS’ staff attempt a reboot following Ruben Amorim’s turbulent 14 months in charge. A divided fanbase alternates between apathy and anger, but it was interesting to hear that a protest is planned for the next home game, against Fulham on February 1, rather than this one.
This derby will bring many disparate sections of the fanbase together, if only to combat a familiar and common foe. Winning is the best cure for any ailing football club, and if Carrick can deliver a positive result and performance, then this four-month interregnum will be off to a good start.
This will be Michael Carrick’s first game in his new jobGeorge Wood/Getty Images
Sam Lee: The blueprint for these matches has always been ‘one thousand million passes’ from Pep Guardiola’s men, but the interesting thing about this season is that City do not really have players whose first thought is to keep the ball — or perhaps they try to, but not quite as well as required.
However, by looking at their intentions away to Real Madrid in December and against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup, they are clearly still trying to dominate the ball — you can tell by the number of times they pass backwards rather than bursting forwards.
City are still not as capable as they used to be at that, and the opposition do now get chances, but they are improving and one upside to having more attack-minded players is that they have several ways to thrive in an end-to-end game, if that is how it turns out.What You Should Read NextThe beauty of Rayan Cherki’s goal: Switch-flicks, a corta-luz, and ‘a classic Pep triangle’The move was carried out by City’s newest players, but it bore the hallmarks of previous teams under Guardiola
How do you expect the manager of your club to approach the game tactically?
Lee: If Guardiola can pick Bernardo Silva and Rodri in midfield, that will go a long way to dictating how the match will go.
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United have caused City plenty of problems with counter-attacks over the years and the priority will be to stop that happening on Saturday through controlled play, particularly in midfield, which means Bernardo and Rodri will be at the very heart of what the visitors try to do.What You Should Read NextHow Manchester City play: Direct build-up and quicker combinations, but is there too much fatigue?The Athletic’s series taking the tactical temperature at the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ begins with a look at Pep Guardiola’s side
That said, there is huge potential for wingers — presumably Jeremy Doku on the left and Antoine Semenyo on the right — to burst forward into the box and try to make something happen, and whoever else plays in midfield — Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders or Rayan Cherki — will have big roles in helping to tie everything together.
Anka: We need to extrapolate things from Carrick’s three years as Middlesbrough manager to answer this one. He favoured a 4-2-3-1 shape that would become a 3-2-5 when attacking (one full-back getting forward, while the other tucked inside) and a compact 4-4-2 when defending.What You Should Read NextHow could Michael Carrick’s Manchester United play?Analysing Carrick’s tactics during his brief coaching career — and their similarity to Ruben Amorim’s United
Carrick likes his team to build possession steadily from the back, but also gives licence for his attacking players to express themselves in the final third. When it worked well for Middlesbrough in the second-tier Championship, it was thrilling. When the club lost their best players, though, it became slow and methodical to watch.
Recent Manchester derbies have seen City dominate possession and United try to win on the counter-attack. Carrick’s managerial career so far suggests he might want this team to play in a more expansive manner eventually, but this weekend he may stick with the blueprints that delivered derby success to more than one of his predecessors.
Which player is key for your club in this game?
Anka: Here, I typically write 150 words explaining the importance of Bruno Fernandes. Or 150 words explaining how I’ve grown tired of answering ‘Bruno Fernandes’ to this question, so instead will spotlight someone else.
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Let’s try to do both today. Fernandes remains the critical player around whom United’s many attackers orbit, but Saturday’s match may be defined by Casemiro. United’s standard of play has a nasty habit of cratering when the 33-year-old is unavailable. He’s their best defensive midfielder, able to turn defence into attack with a smart tackle and even smarter switch-pass out wide. The Brazilian is also one of the team’s top aerial options in both boxes during set pieces, too.
The remainder of United’s season will rest on how many minutes Casemiro and Fernandes manage in the remaining 17 games.
Lee: It is hard to choose between Rodri and Bernardo.
Bernardo understands what games like this need, Rodri is a top-level player and his physicality and ability to pick out the right vertical pass would be an amazing boost to a team who have learnt to play pretty well without him over the 16 months since that ACL knee injury against Arsenal.
Rodri will be integral to City if he playsShaun Botterill/Getty Images
You could look at Erling Haaland as the obvious goal threat, or young Max Alleyne, who has done brilliantly in defence and is facing another big test, and there could be a moment from any of them that decides the result.
But those two in the middle will have the biggest say on how the game itself looks.
Which opposing player is the biggest threat?
Anka: City’s victory over Newcastle in that Carabao Cup semi-final first leg earlier this week contained some ominous signs. The idea of Semenyo and Doku running at Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu at Old Trafford on Saturday is frightening.
Lee: Marcus Rashford has been one of the most obvious thorns in City’s side whenever United have got a result in the derby recently, thanks to his pace on the break and finishing, but it is usually Fernandes who fires off those passes in behind.
No matter who has been the manager, United have been great at getting the ball into midfield, immediately playing the ball to Fernandes and offering him at least one runner in behind the defence. Even if not that particular route, Fernandes is always capable of creating something or scoring himself, so he is the obvious threat.What You Should Read NextHow does Antoine Semenyo fit in at Manchester City?He may not be a traditional Guardiola player but given City’s shift towards a more open, individualistic attacking style, the logic is clear
Match prediction?
Anka: I choose to believe United will do it. Carrick’s plucky side shock the league with an unexpected counter-attacking win. So, 2-1 to the home side. One goal from a set piece, one from a moment of quality against an unsettled City back line.
Lee: You can never be quite sure how these bigger away games will go this season, with them generally being more open and end-to-end than in recent years. Add in the change of manager at United, and things seem even more unpredictable. But City were impressive against Newcastle in midweek, and if they can add Rodri back into the mix, I think they have a great chance of winning — especially if Semenyo keeps adding an extra goal threat.
Man Utd new manager bingo: What will Michael Carrick say – and how will he say it?
Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images
By Nick Miller
Jan. 15, 2026
Yes, it’s that time again.
Manchester United are without a permanent manager, so they need a comfort blanket. And as we know, the only thing that seems to comfort Manchester United is someone with some connection to Sir Alex Ferguson taking over in some form of interim and/or caretaker fashion.
Since Ferguson retired, Ryan Giggs, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Michael Carrick, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Darren Fletcher have all fulfilled the role as the man to make United feel safe again, for varying amounts of time and to varying degrees of success.
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Now it’s Carrick (again), who begins his second interim spell in the big chair — this time as the permanent interim rather than the interim-interim Fletcher. This actually mirrors the situation he was in the first time around, taking over after Solskjaer was sacked and before Ralf Rangnick arrived to complete the 2021-22 season. So this is technically a promotion for him.
Carrick will be introduced as Ruben Amorim’s temporary successor tomorrow (Friday), and certain words, phrases or themes are surely going to come up. Here are a few to listen out for…
‘The Manchester United way’
Is this the most talked about ‘way’ in football? And yet, it’s always been slightly tricky to pin down exactly what this idea means. A cynic might suggest it’s just ‘win games of football’, but listen out for talk of this fabled philosophy.
In fairness, the club’s caretaker managers of yore have tried to explain it. “It’s going to be a Manchester United philosophy,” roared Giggs, when he took over from David Moyes for the death rattle of the 2013-14 season. “Passion, speed, tempo, be brave, imagination. Work hard but, most of all, enjoy it. If you enjoy it, you can express yourself more.”
Ryan Giggs is a big proponent of the ‘Manchester United way’Andrew Yates/AFP via Getty Images
Solskjaer echoed this by saying he wanted his team to “play with courage, go out there and express your skills, take risks” and “when you’re at Manchester United, there are a set of demands”, while Van Nistelrooy said that his first team talk involved “telling them about what Manchester United is about and what it is to play at Old Trafford”.
The crucial point here is: no specifics. People can hold you to specifics. Keep it slightly vague, keep it vibes-based, keep it ‘Manchester United’.What You Should Read NextManchester United’s retrotopia dooms them to repeat the same mistakes again and againThe club’s sepia-tinted caretaker manager search underlines how it remains trapped by its illustrious past
‘This is Manchester United we’re talking about’
Now, this is something of a red herring. You could easily get sucked into the idea that the candidate will say variants of the immortal words “this is Manchester United Football Club we’re talking about”, usually delivered in that sort of incredulous tone which is intended to convey the full weight and significance of this august institution, which is so significant and august that you shouldn’t need to say anything else.
However, this is not generally the remit of the ex-player turned caretaker boss, and rather something that is usually confined to pundits on radio or TV, largely because there’s an element of exasperation to the words that emphasise what a mess United are in and how badly things have been managed. All of that said, it’s possible this phrase will make an appearance when Carrick sits down with the media on Friday, so keep an ear open for it.
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There is, however, always a quasi-religious element to how former players-turned-interims speak about Manchester United: it’s like the club is God, Ferguson is the Pope and they are the cardinals. So be alert for some reference to the club being all-consuming, an entity that is now a fundamental part of their being.
At Carrick’s first unveiling, he said “this club has been my life for a long time” and spoke about the “sacrifice” required to do the job, while Giggs said United “has been the biggest part of my life since I was 14”, which in fairness was less him bowing to the majesty of the place as a football institution and more a statement of fact.
‘A dream come true’
Forget their weddings or the birth of their kids, there’s no topping being appointed United manager.
“It’s an amazing honour to be able to lead a Manchester United team,” said Fletcher. “I don’t even think it’s in my wildest dreams that it was something that could potentially happen.” Giggs described it as “the proudest moment of my life”, while Solskjaer, upon getting the job permanently after doing so well as the interim, said: “You know when people say they’re taking their dream job — that’s more true for me than anyone.”
‘I’ve not thought about the permanent job’
It’s important to recognise that this is a short-term gig and you shouldn’t be presumptuous. At some point, you will be asked if you want to stay for longer than the initial proposed time period, but these questions must be played with a straight bat.
Fletcher insisted that “honestly, it’s not something I’ve thought about”, Carrick said first time round that his “thought process is preparing the team for tomorrow”, Van Nistelrooy kept repeating that he’d return to being an assistant when his spell was over (he didn’t: a month after his interim period was over, he was Leicester City manager) while Solskjaer said “it’s until the summer now, five or six months to just help out in the meantime while the club does the process to get the next (permanent) manager.” Which, of course, turned out to be him.What You Should Read NextMichael Carrick, the football manager: ‘I hate the word philosophy’The former Man Utd midfielder is no ideologue but has firm coaching convictions which he will hope to instil at his old club
A deferential reference to Sir Alex Ferguson
Hopefully, someone tomorrow asks Carrick if he’s going to use the manager’s parking space, something that Solskjaer reportedly didn’t do because he believed it still belonged to Ferguson. This was the peak of the Fergie deference scale — almost topped by Fletcher revealing he had asked for his former manager’s “blessing” to take caretaker control for two games — something all former United players (barring Roy Keane) are obliged to do.
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On the one hand, you get it: we might not have heard of most of these guys had it not been for Ferguson; he is their primary influence, their model of what a manager is. Why would you not lean on him for advice? On the other hand, it does become slightly embarrassing to watch these grown men essentially turn into small boys who have to ask Daddy for permission.
Darren Fletcher sought Sir Alex Ferguson’s ‘blessing’ ahead of his two-game spell in chargeOli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images
Anyway, speaking to him will almost certainly come up: Van Nistelrooy did so when he was asked to hold the fort post-Erik ten Hag; Solskjaer called Ferguson his “mentor”, who had “influenced me on everything” and that there was “no one to get better advice from”; Carrick was actually quite interesting on the Scot, saying he spoke to him “several times” before taking the job first time around, and that he deliberately tried not to get too close to his old boss during his playing days.
And then there was Fletcher, who said, remarkably: “I don’t like to make any major decisions without speaking to Sir Alex.”
‘I’m my own man’
While Ferguson will always be the United godhead, these are still men with pride and ego, so there also must be some attempt to make clear that they are an autonomous being; a real boy with his own mind.
“It’s going to be my philosophy,” declared Giggs, undermining himself slightly by describing that as a “Manchester United philosophy”, while Solskjaer referred to his “philosophy, principles, how we want to play,” and Carrick the first time round said, “I have it very clear in my mind how I want the team to play.”
Fletcher, who admittedly didn’t have a lot of scope to put his stamp on things because he only had two games, nevertheless said he hoped they looked “like a Manchester United team that represents a bit of me”.
By Nick Miller
Jeff CarlisleNov 16, 2025, 05:29 AM ET
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