Man United players have already seen the other side of Michael Carrick

The only defeat he has suffered to date came at Newcastle earlier this month and Carrick suggested that he had shown his anger after a disappointing display at St James' Park, when United failed to press home a man advantage in the second half and were beaten by William Osula's last-minute goal.

It was noticeable that day that, after clapping the travelling fans, Carrick marched straight down the tunnel without speaking to any of his players. Speaking ahead of tonight's trip to AFC Bournemouth, he suggested he had shown his true feelings to the squad that night.

"I'm not going to sit here and get angry with you at this point if that's what you're asking," Carrick said when asked in his press conference if he ever got angry.

"I think there's a time and a place. Obviously, we're disappointed at times and disappointed with the result at Newcastle. So there are feelings there. That's what I'm saying.

"It's a sport, it's elite performance. You've got to play with emotion and feeling and sometimes that is a bit more aggressive, it's a bit more intense sometimes, so you've got to manage that. If I don't manage that, you can't expect the players to create the right emotion. It's certainly part of our role."

One of the reasons United settled on Carrick as head coach until the end of the season was his calmness throughout the process, delivering a measured and shrewd assessment of the squad in conversations but never pushing his case publicly for the role.

His public persona since taking on the job has been exactly the same. He is coy in press conferences, rarely giving anything away, and has been a composed figure on the touchline, keeping his emotions in check during games and trying to project calmness to his players.

"I think it's that drive ultimately in you," he said. "It comes out in different ways. Some of the players will be a little bit quieter, doesn't mean they don't care. They might not show it but there's something inside.

"There's a drive, maybe there's a stubbornness at times to want to prove to yourself as much as anything. To play at a certain level you've got to have that confidence in yourself and that belief to ultimately pull it off.

"But the emotion is part of it. I wouldn't say I've put on a performance. I think I go with how I feel at the time."