Why Manchester United players carry out pre-match ritual

Pre-match huddles weren't part of the game in Michael Carrick's playing days, but in 2026, it seems plenty of thought goes into them. Manchester City have started doing one next to the away end on their travels and Chelsea's huddle over the centre circle produced farcical scenes last weekend.

Chelsea have started doing huddles before the first half and second half, and each time they do it around the centre spot, with the ball in the middle. It led to the image of referee Paul Tierney standing in the middle of them against Newcastle last weekend and Liam Rosenior's comical claim that his players wanted to "respect the ball".

United's own pre-match efforts are more mundane in comparison. After captain Bruno Fernandes has finished with his obligations in the middle, he will return to his teammates in his own half for a few words.

A modern-day fad in the game, it's easy to imagine some former players rolling their eyes at the idea of a huddle adding any value before a match, but Carrick has revealed he leaves the planning for it to his players and is relaxed whether they want to do it or not.

"At that stage, it's up to the players and how they want to go about it really," he said. "I don't get involved in that part of it. I'll say my bit in the changing room and before kick-off.

"But in terms of that, if they want to do that and they feel it helps them then great. If they felt they actually don't want to carry on and do it then I'm fine with it.

"Whatever at that moment, they're on the pitch. It's up to them as a group. They've got to go into battle and they've got to have that feeling between them. Whatever suits them. So I'm quite calm about what they do at that point."

Carrick is happy to delegate to his players and is also keen for them to uphold standards in the dressing room and call out each other's mistakes.

"I think it's healthy to push each other," he said. "It's not a personal thing. It's a case of performance and getting the best out of each other.

"I've seen players over the years where they just kind of argue for the sake of argument to fire each other up. There's definitely that and there's no harm in it. As I say, it's not personal. It's for the good of the team and for the good of each other. I've got no issue with that at all.

"I think as long as it's meant in the right way, [not] when it's the wrong body language or negative. If it's coming from the right place and the intention is to want to do better for everybody and everyone stays positive with it, then I've got no issue with that at all."