Travis Binnion was formerly U21 manager.(Image: 2026 Manchester United FC)
Michael Carrick has praised Travis Binnion and his coaching staff for their “really good work” at Carrington. Carrick has secured 16 points from a possible 18 since his appointment as interim head coach.
The 44-year-old picked up the Premier League’s manager of the month award for January, but when the accolade was announced, Carrick said: “Let’s be honest, it’s not just about me really. It’s about everyone, you know: it’s about the staff, the coaching staff, the backroom staff, the players definitely.”
Carrick’s coaching staff have made an impact. Steve Holland joined to work as Carrick’s assistant, while Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans and Binnion have worked as first-team coaches. Sources who have observed training sessions have described the strong chemistry among the backroom staff.
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Before Binnion joined Carrick’s staff, his official title in the academy was ‘head of player development and coaching’. Binnion was Under-21 manager, but stepped up to help Darren Fletcher when he was caretaker.
When Benjamin Sesko spoke to reporters after the 1-0 win against Everton, he credited Binnion for helping him with individual coaching. Carrick’s staff have targeted one on one training to unlock improvement from specific members of the squad, and Binnion is playing a big part in that process.
Carrick was asked about Binnion’s work and responded: “The coaches are doing some really great work. You know, I’m sitting here and kind of answering the questions, but there’s a lot of work that goes on kind of underneath that.
“And it’s been a big focus of ours, to be honest, in terms of individuals and narrowing things down and trying to help the players. I think I spoke that from the start, trying to develop them and Trav’s been a big part of that in so many ways, as Steve, Woody and Johnny have and Craig [Pawson].
“I think it’s it’s a bit of everything really, a little bit on the pitch, a little bit one-on-one, a little bit in the meeting room. And as much as everything, just conversations and relationships and connections and support, you know, is I think is important. Like we try and provide for all the players.
“It’s not always easy to just flick a switch and perform. So there’s so many different elements that we try and provide the support and help for to get improvement and trying to push the players to be better. And I think we’ve made some good gains in some of those instances.”
When asked whether Binnion was solely responsible for the individual work with the forwards at Carrington, Carrick responded: “We kind of split it up. Naturally, it takes its course, I think.
“Any coaching team you try and spread it. So, again, building relationships a little bit, having eyes on certain things, and I think it helps with the players to know and feel that connection with certain coaches, to then really kind of invest in that improvement process, really.
“And so Trav has done a bit of work, quite a bit of work with the forwards, sometimes as a unit, sometimes as a group, sometimes as individuals, so it’s just constant, really, and trying to keep improving.”
Carrick wants to continue improving the team’s style as well. “I think it always evolves, you know, it’s never perfect. I’ve said that I’ve always kind of hoped for more,” he said about the team’s philosophy so far.
“I think part of it’s understanding of how kind of little time we’ve kind of been together and sometimes it’s going to go well and there’s going to be times where it doesn’t quite click so much.
“I think not to be over-picky and over-harsh on certain things and actually taking perspective and a bigger picture is important for us. But yeah, I think we’re in a good place.
“In some ways we’ve made big strides, winning games that we might not have won at other times, played some good football at times, things to improve at times.
“Defending really, really well a lot of the time, and you know, keeping clean sheets, so there’s lots of positives. There are so many layers of levels that we feel we can get to as a group, so we’ll just keep pushing for that.”
Carrick is hoping to secure a seventh win since his return when United visit Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. Oliver Glasner, who has been linked with United, will be in the opposite dug-out, but Carrick rejected the suggestion that he wanted to get one over Glasner to enhance his own credentials for the job.
“Honestly, no, no, it doesn’t make any difference whatsoever,” he said. “It’s total respect for Crystal Palace and Oliver.
“It’s the next game for us. We’re in a position where we found ourselves at, and we were in a decent, we were in a decent spot, and we would feel like we’re moving forwards.
“And it’s just about what’s in front of us, and trying to get to where we want to be, which is a little bit higher up the league, so that’s literally all that that I’m worried about in the moment.”
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