Tom Cleverley backs Man Utd pal Michael Carrick to lead new generation of English managers to conquer the Premier League

TOM CLEVERLEY wants a new generation of home-grown managers to follow Michael Carrick and reclaim their place at the top of world football. The Plymouth boss believes the success of Spanish titans like Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery and Andoni Iraola should spur on English coaches. Michael Carrick is leading a new generation of English coaches says ex-Man U pal Tom Cleverley Credit: Getty Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley faced each other when they were managing Middlesbrough and Watford respectively Credit: Getty Spanish managers like Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta are dominating the pinnacle of football Credit: Nigel French/Sportsphoto/APL And he points straight to his former Manchester United team-mate Carrick as the man leading the charge. Cleverley, 36, said: “We must acknowledge the dominance of Spanish coaches in this era at international, Champions League and Premier League level. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! “They’re a football superpower at the minute. That motivates English coaches like myself, Jack Wilshere at Luton and Richie Wellens at Orient in League One or Gary O’Neil who has gone in at Ipswich in the Prem. “Eddie Howe has been up there for a while before he stepped down at Newcastle — but a big motivation of mine as a coach is can we put English coaches on the map again? “Michael Carrick, we hope, can really stamp his authority at United and put English coaches on the radar of the top four. “That would do tonnes for the young or middle-aged English coach. “Frank Lampard getting back into the Premier League on the back of winning promotion with Coventry, we’re all rooting for him to take it on to the next level.” Tactically, Cleverley refuses to be boxed in by modern stereotypes or rigid identity — taking inspiration from those top bosses while relying on an Old Trafford legend’s advice. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS The former England player said: “I couldn’t speak highly enough of guys like Emery, Guardiola and Arteta. “The reason they’ve had so much success is how much they’ve adapted to English football. They embraced the high intensity, valuing the basics and the dark arts. “To match that level, you have to embrace the modern game too. I am very aware of the data. Shots on target and xG are big for me, as is high-speed running. “I’m a bit of a hybrid. My philosophy is always, one, how do I get the best out of my players? Two, how do I create the best environment for success? “And three, do you attack their box more than they attack yours? “I want my team to be entertaining. Sir Alex installed that in all of us: ultimately, if we’re not getting bums off seats, we’re not doing our job.” The former England, United, Everton and Watford midfielder is carving out his own path in Devon. After 14 months in charge of the Hornets, he has been at Plymouth since last June — missing out on the League One play-offs by just two points. Argyle face some of the most gruelling away trips in English football. But Cleverley has turned their extreme geographical isolation into a real weapon. He said: “I don’t want to use the phrase siege mentality but because we’re so far from everywhere, there’s a real togetherness and passion. “Down here in the south-west, it’s Argyle from Penzance all the way to Exeter or Bristol. “So it’s really got that togetherness and real passion, which I think is healthy for a club. We embrace that as players and staff. “Because we’re fairly isolated, the city completely revolves around the military and football club. We enjoy that responsibility. Tom Cleverley is carving out his own managerial career in League One with Plymouth Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Tom Cleveley played for Manchester United in the Premier League Credit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun “Our players are probably with each other more than any other club in the country. We use it to our advantage. “The flip side of that is, can we make our home ground really uncomfortable for teams to come to, because they have to do the reverse?” To cope with the brutal EFL travel schedule, Cleverley admits he regularly calls on his old friends at top-flight clubs to keep his squad fresh for matchdays. He said: “We travel at 9am — that’s when the traffic’s the best. “We try and get the best venue we can close to where we’re playing the next day, which is calling on a lot of favours from United and Everton. “Recovery is of course important. If we played at Bradford on a Tuesday night and we’re not back until 4am, we do simple things like train late on Thursday — give them a lie-in to make sure they catch up on that missed sleep. “Just small adaptations to make sure that we give them the best chance to deal with a challenge. We’ve dealt with the travelling really well.” Transitioning into the dugout also meant learning how to command the dressing room — including managing players who were recently his team-mates or peers. Cleverley explained: “I found it very easy sort of creating that distance. I don’t want to say barrier because I like to communicate, connect with the players, but I’m not going out for a drink with them anymore. “I’m not sitting at their table for dinner because ultimately you’re the one who tells them they’re not playing. “I’m that one that’s got to have some real honest conversations with them. So it’s a distance that I’ve been able to create as well as feeling really connected to them. “I’m just myself, just trying to be myself. I think they can feel the honesty that I bring to the table and they respect that.” TOM CLEVERLEY was speaking to SunSport ahead of the new season after Plymouth Argyle received a £65,000 grant from the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund to launch a new programme supporting women through perimenopause and menopause Comment now