Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has dismissed the theory that the Old Trafford club are unmanageable. With his job hanging in the balance ahead of Sunday’s Premier League home game against Bournemouth, Carrick had a one-word answer to that notion: “No.”
Michael Carrick (Credits: BBC Sport)
Carrick is clinging on to his job after a desperate run of seven games without a win. The pressure has been heightened by controversial comments from senior players Lisandro Martinez and Bruno Fernandes, who have attacked the club’s recruitment and his tactics.
If Carrick were to lose his job, it would be the third change of manager in as many seasons — and mean eight long-term bosses, including Ralf Rangnick, have lost their jobs since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 without getting close to his heights.
Michael Carrick Says Man Utd Are Not Unmanageable
Given the pressure that comes with the job — prominent ex-players with their own media outlets, and a proliferation of fan channels attracting huge audiences — there is an argument that United have become an impossible club to manage. Carrick does not buy it.
He does, however, take issue with some of the claims made about his team by former professionals and casual observers. He is particularly vexed at the sense that his team do not run enough, and do not press the opposition when out of possession.
Carrick has accepted that the general performance in Wednesday’s 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como was “unacceptable.” But he does not see how claims that his team do not press stand up to scrutiny. “You’ve got to be careful with just saying ‘not running’,” he said. “Pressing is one small part of football. You don’t necessarily need to press to win games of football. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. It’s not necessarily just running stats that define football games either.”
Carrick Vows Man Utd Will Be ‘A Different Team’ Against Bournemouth
Carrick was appointed ahead of his former boss and team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Ruben Amorim’s replacement in January, but the pair remain close. Solskjaer drove up to United’s base in Trondheim before the pre-season victory over Rosenborg in July to spend time with Carrick and his backroom team, and the two have been in touch this week.
Carrick also confirmed he had spoken to Ferguson, who signed him from Tottenham in 2006 and is a regular at matches as he approaches his 85th birthday. “I speak to both of them quite regularly,” Carrick said. “There’s nothing particular in that. I’m close to both of them. It’s nothing different this week.”
Carrick is convinced he can turn the situation around, but he knows he needs his underperforming squad to deliver against Bournemouth on Sunday (14:00 GMT). “We’ll be a different team on Sunday,” he said. “We have to be a different team on Sunday.”
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
