{"id":1016924,"date":"2026-06-10T05:57:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1016924\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T05:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:57:20","slug":"michael-carrick-just-made-his-first-major-man-united-rule-change-ahead-of-new-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1016924\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Carrick just made his first major Man United rule change ahead of new season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Carrick will break from a 24-year tradition as he gets to work implementing his own methods at Manchester United this summer\"Manchester<\/p>\n

Michael Carrick has already made a major change from Manchester United tradition ahead of his first full season in charge at Old Trafford(Image: Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Michael Carrick is already demonstrating his independence in the Manchester United<\/a> hot seat as he prepares to get to work at Old Trafford. The new manager, who signed a two-year contract to remain as boss<\/a> in May, has decided to end the club’s annual tradition of pre-season tours in far-off locations.<\/p>\n

Instead, United have planted their flag in the sand by planning a tour of Europe instead this summer<\/a>. The Premier League<\/a> powerhouse has spent its summers in destinations like Asia, North America and Australia every pre-season since 2002, but has opted for a change under Carrick.<\/p>\n

It’s a mark of intent as Carrick prepares to take his old club back into the Champions League next season. That means competing for more titles with a much more packed schedule, and the head coach seemingly wants to mitigate any chances of fatigue.<\/p>\n

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Just because United are sticking closer to home doesn’t mean any let-up in competition, however. In fact, the upcoming pre-season schedule reads like a gauntlet of examinations that promise to push Carrick’s men hard in the coming months.<\/p>\n

The club confirmed on Tuesday it will wrap up its slate of summer friendlies with a meeting against AC Milan in Wroclaw<\/a> on August 15. That will bring an end to a six-game series, which starts with a meeting against Wrexham in Helsinki on July 18.<\/p>\n

They’ll then face Rosenborg in Norway on July 24 before coming up against Atletico Madrid at Solna’s Strawberry Arena on August 1. They’ll remain in Sweden to face European champions Paris Saint-Germain on August 8 before preparing to face Leeds at Dublin’s Croke Park four days later.<\/p>\n

\"Bruno<\/p>\n

Bruno Fernandes will lead United on a domestic tour of Europe this summer(Image: Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Speaking after the Milan fixture was confirmed to take place on the eve of the new season, sporting director Jason Wilcox<\/a> said: “We\u2019re excited to be concluding our pre\u2011season tour in Wroclaw, Poland, with a big game against AC Milan.<\/p>\n

“With fixtures now confirmed across five countries and six fantastic cities, these matches will provide strong preparation for the 2026-27 season and a valuable opportunity to connect with our incredible fans across Europe. Their support will be vital as we build momentum.”<\/p>\n

Overseas tours have become a modern method of raising revenue and boosting a club’s profile on the international stage every year. However, some United fans would agree the club’s priorities have become too money-centric and less focused on results in recent times.<\/p>\n

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By remaining in Europe and limiting the amount of pre-season travel pushed on players, this summer’s pre-season plan demonstrates a change of direction. And it only promises to benefit the squad ahead of next term’s return to continental competition.<\/p>\n

Of course, maintaining a certain level of fan awareness and giving fans in far-flung countries a chance to watch United live has its merits. But after 25 consecutive years of annual trips to the other side of the world, one summer spent closer to home shores won’t see United suddenly drop off the map.<\/p>\n

And certainly not if that decrease in squad fatigue happens to play its part in helping United get their hands on silverware. After two seasons without Champions League football, that’s a trade-off many supporters would undoubtedly accept if it meant becoming competitive on the continent’s grandest stage once more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Carrick will break from a 24-year tradition as he gets to work implementing his own methods at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1016925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,10761,2465,423,24465,101,99,16,15],"class_list":["post-1016924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manchester","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-jason-wilcox","tag-manchester","tag-manchester-united-fc","tag-michael-carrick","tag-premier-league","tag-ruben-amorim","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116724279217923954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1016924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1016925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1016924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1016924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1016924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}