Was Michael Carrick Holding Middlesbrough Back?

Was Michael Carrick Holding Middlesbrough Back?

Middlesbrough have made a flying start to the 2025/26 EFL Championship, sitting pretty at the top of the tree.

Currently the only team with a 100% win rate after four played, Rob Edwards is certainly enjoying life as the new Boro manager.

Former boss Michael Carrick had Middlesbrough in 10th spot last season, and was given the sack for it.

Therefore, it begs the question - was Carrick the one holding the team back, or have signings naturally progressed their fortunes?

Life Under Carrick

The ex-Manchester United man was brought in to the club in October 2022, with Boro in 21st place and just one point above the relegation zone, having played 16 games.

Despite losing his first game in charge 2-1 to Preston, a remarkable run that included 16 wins in 23 games ended up with his side in fourth at the end of the season, thus qualifying for the play-offs - albeit losing 1-0 to Coventry in the semi-finals.

Michael Carrick has taken Middlesbrough from 22nd to 3rd in just 14 games as manager at the club.

I’m unsure it’s possible to comprehend how special that is, especially when considering his style represents that of the elites (4-2-4 ➡️ 3-2-5 in possession, 4-4-1-1 off the ball). pic.twitter.com/Wyh1ta9Qv9

— EBL (@EBL2017) February 20, 2023

Having completely transformed a side struggling beforehand, there was nothing but plaudits for Carrick's influence within the club.

In his first full season at the helm, the club did fall back slightly in the league, with an eighth place finish meaning they just missed out on the play-offs for successive years.

However, he did run close to having Middlesbrough in a domestic cup final, when they were drawn to Chelsea in the EFL Cup semi-final.

In the first leg at the Riverbank Stadium, Boro recorded their most impressive win yet under Carrick, having come out 1-0 winners against a Blues side that fielded players such as Cole Palmer, Thiago Silva and Moises Caicedo.

However, they were well beaten in the return leg at Stamford Bridge, losing 6-1 as Carrick's tenure reached its peak.

From there on, it was a downhill slide, even if the decline was far from drastic, as they were knocked out at the first time of asking in the FA Cup plus a 5-0 thrashing by Stoke in the second of the EFL Cup, capped off by a 10th place finish.

BREAKING: Middlesbrough part ways with manager Michael Carrick 🚨pic.twitter.com/vSFkJr1Ojp

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 4, 2025

New Signings

Boro have brought in 10 new faces this summer, which are David Strelec, Adilson Malanda, Sontje Hansen, Abdoulaye Kante, Kaly Sene, Jon McLaughlin, Sverre Nypan, Alfie Jones, Callum Brittain and Matt Targett.

However, many of these players have had at best a bit-part role to play in the positive start, with only Alfie Jones and Callum Brittain having played over 200 minutes so far.

This means that the ever-presents such as Dael Fry, Sol Brynn and Hayden Hackney are still the ones pulling the strings, just like they did under Carrick.

So, there can't be any argument that improvements to the squad is the reason for the current form.

Rob Edwards Magic

Having left Luton after staring down the barrel of back-to-back relegations, no one could have predicted the impact Rob Edwards would have made already on this Middlesbrough squad.

Former Middlesbrough defender Tommy Smith has been impressed with the start to the season by Rob Edwards 👏🔴 pic.twitter.com/fLm1sv0rml

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 30, 2025

The season kicked off with a standard 1-0 win over Swansea, then stepped up a gear to bash Millwall 3-0 on their own patch, followed by 2-1 and another 1-0 success against Norwich and Sheffield United.

It's very early days, but it looks as if Rob Edwards has Boro playing exactly how Carrick couldn't in his two full seasons in charge.

Conclusion

Based on Carrick's two-and-a-half-year spell in charge, I think it's clear to say that his time at the club naturally came to and end, as the club kept on slowly regressing whilst the former midfielder remained stubborn with his tactics.

Therefore, it's certainly possible to claim that Rob Edwards' new tactical insight was what Boro needed for more inspiration towards the future.