Mourinho offers Carrick coaching role at Man United
Jose Mourinho has revealed that he has offered club captain Michael Carrick a coaching role with Manchester United after the 36-year-old announced he had received treatment for an irregular heart rhythm.
Carrick issued a statement on the eve of United's 1-0 win over Brighton on Saturday that revealed he had undergone a procedure to correct the problem.
The midfielder suffered dizzy spells during a League Cup win over Burton Albion in September and has only recently been cleared to resume training with Mourinho's first team.
But the United manager confirmed he had offered Carrick the coaching role had the veteran decided to retire following the diagnosis, and that the job is waiting for him if he decides to retire at the end of his current contract in June.
"Michael as a person is more important than Michael as a player," said the United manager.
"We gave him the time to relax, to recover, to feel confident, to make the decision - wants to play, wants to stop.
"He knows that my coaching staff has a chair for him, if he wants, when he wants.
"The chair is in the office for him. I want that, the board wants that, the owners want that.
"Michael is in a comfortable position - the future is with us. But he wants to play until the end of the season and now he feels confident to be back. He is one more option for us."
Mourinho was left frustrated by United's lacklustre display on Saturday which required a 66th-minute Ashley Young shot, and a cruel deflection via defender Lewis Dunk, to claim another three points.
In the week that Eric Cantona had suggested Mourinho is not attack-minded enough for his former club, the Portuguese coach admitted he may have overdone his offensive approach by fielding Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial behind striker Romelu Lukaku.
"I wouldn't be surprised if some of the pundits said today we played with too many attackers," said Mourinho.
"But if they say that, I would say they were right because sometimes you play with too many attacking players and you lose control of the game.
"We had a few problems defensively with the game because (Paul) Pogba and (Nemanja) Matic were a bit isolated in the centre of the park.
"If we compensate that with more creation, that is good, that is a good risk but our creation was poor today." - AFP
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