Should Manchester United stick with Michael Carrick?
Should Manchester United stick with Michael Carrick?
The video examines the pressure on Michael Carrick after Manchester United's damaging defeat to Como and asks whether he should stay. Dan Khan sees the situation getting increasingly difficult, Carrick apologises for aspects of the performance, and Paul Merson argues for continuity while criticising unrealistic expectations; another guest points to flawed squad rebuilding and recruitment.
- Carrick did not defend the team as he usually does and instead accepted the criticism about running, intensity and aggression, marking a clear shift in his stance. — Bruno Fernandes publicly questioned the tactics, and Carrick responded that if you do not run forward and do not run back, you will not win the game.
- My going over to the away fans was not a goodbye but an acknowledgement of and thanks to the supporters; parts of our performance were unacceptable and I feel for the fans. — He always goes over to the fans after matches to thank them for travelling and spending money, and he said he feels the same as them.
- It is becoming increasingly difficult for Carrick and this Manchester United squad to turn things around. — United have gone seven games without a win, senior players have questioned the coaching staff and hierarchy, and the body language and performance against Como were poor.
- Manchester United should stick with Carrick rather than change manager; the team needs stability now. — He was not surprised they failed to beat Leeds or Como because the squad is far from the Rooney, Ronaldo and Giggs era, and their form is up and down like snakes and ladders.
- United must drop the sense of entitlement to the title and top four and learn to walk before aiming higher. — This is no longer the old Manchester United; if a new manager were still told to win the league immediately, even Ancelotti would fail miserably.
- United rebuilt the squad in the wrong order, and their recruitment approach makes success unlikely and the problems long-term. — They bought forwards first, then midfielders, with defenders still to come; under financial fair play they cannot buy all the top players, and their signings are like a coin flip.
► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT Manchester United suffered a 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League. Dan Khan looks back at the reaction, while Paul Merson weighs in on the growing questions surrounding the club's managerial situation. SkySportsNews SkySports championsleague ► For the latest developments on this story: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/topstories ► For the latest transfer news: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/TransferCentre More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports Retro: http://bit.ly/SkySportsRetroSub ► Sky Sports WSL: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsWSL ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skysportsnews ► X: https://x.com/SkySportsNews ► Website: https://www.skysports.com ► To enquire about licensing Sky Sports content, you can find out more here: https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/news/31754/11434270/license-sky-sports-footage
Transcript
Dan Kahn, beautiful place, Dan. Ugly result for Manchester United. Uh, you were asking questions to Michael Carrick in the press conference after the game. Just describe the mood. >> Yeah, good morning, Adam. Uh, wow. I mean, I'm still processing what we saw last night and even in a way more incredibly uh, you know, how Michael Carrick handled that situation after the game. I mean, first of all, there's so much to depict. I mean, after the final whistle blows, you see him going away to the away fans. Uh, you know, really ignoring a lot of the players on the way back to the tunnel, but going to those away fans essentially hands up, apologizing to maybe the 100 of the 700 fans in that away stand left as so many of them left early understandably perhaps watching that performance completely dejected. Michael Carrick and there will be comparisons made between Ole Scholkar in 2021 when uh United were pretty comprehensively beat at Watford in 2021. Carrick was part of that staff. Scholkar was soon sacked 24 hours later. So understandable comparison in terms of pictures and imagery there. And then you heard from Michael Carrick in his postmatch news conference there. I mean, it was the first time we've seen him, you know, he's defended this team so much over the last few months, Adam, you know, when it when they've been targeted with criticism towards their running, their intensity, their aggression, as he said there, he couldn't defend any of that. I mean, and you look at when Bruno Fernandez, his captain, comes out questioning the tactics as you were talking about of Carrick and his coaching staff and Carrick bit back by saying, you know, look, if you don't run forward, you don't run backwards, you're not going to win the game regardless. So, the fact that he has finally broken ranks a little bit and not necessarily turned on the team, but accepted the criticism that for the majority of the season has been targeted at his side and really aimed at them as well was quite startling. and to hear him talk about how angry he was again. So unlike Michael Carrick, but there was no defending that performance. One of their worst in Europe and you have to say the last time they won a game was in September against S Sabah September 10th. They've not won a game in the Premier League since August 30th. It is quite incredible for Manchester United. But in terms of those pictures, him apologizing to the fans, although it did look like maybe a goodbye to them regarding his future, don't think Carrick saw it that way. >> I always go over to the fans anyway regardless. So um it it wasn't a particularly different kind of um reason why I went over. I think it's the appreciation and um the acknowledgement of um what they gone through and they have done over a period of of a few weeks now. But particularly tonight, I think um as I said, I was one of them. I'm feeling the same as them. So, um for them to make the effort and spend the money and come and and hope for something um you know, we got we got a lot values and this football club and what we represent and how we want to go about it. We might win, we might lose, but um the way we went about it tonight, I wouldn't say every everyone, but the way we went about it in some ways tonight wasn't was uh unacceptable. And I just got to let the fans know that. Um, I feel for them for sure. >> Yeah, it does feel like a lot of things at Old Trafford are hanging by a thread at the moment, including that, you know, the fans confidence. Where do United and and Carrick go from here then? >> It's a good question, Adam. I mean, when two senior players in the last week question not just the coaching staff, but the club's hierarchy, that raises questions around the changing room, of course it does. And look, United haven't gone on a seven game winless list run in all competitions since they did that for eight games in 2015. So we can throw all the numbers, the statistics, but frankly, it's just not good. And to have a performance result, one of their worst in Europe last night against a KO side who, yes, were very good, but just had 15 fit players no matter what Michael Carrick had at his disposal. He didn't use his injuries, for example, as any excuse. So he was lost for words. I think how the hierarchy now look at that performance. Look at the body language of the players. Does he have them on side? Just a few days ago, as you mentioned, he said it was a fresh start against Leads. Where that's gone in 3 days, uh there's a lot of questions that are unanswered with this Manchester United team. But what you have to say is it's looking increasingly difficult for Michael Carrick and the squad of players to turn things around already in October, so early in the season. >> Okay, Dan, thank you very much indeed. More from Dan to come a little bit later on. Now, Paul Merson says that United should stick with Michael Carrick despite another damaging defeat. Speaking on last night's Sports Center, Merson even compared United's form to a children's board game. This is where they are. I don't I don't I I don't see it as a shock. It's not a shock. I look at their team. I look at their players. I don't I don't look at them and I go, "Oh, this is a surprise. Can't believe where they are." I didn't expect them to beat Leads at the weekend. Absolutely not. I didn't expect them to beat KO tonight. That's where they are. But we we're caught in this. It's Man United and we're still still got it in our heads that it's, you know, Rooney and Ronaldo and Carrick and Giggs and Beckham and Keane and Skoles. No, far from it. Just a bad result. It's a bit like snakes and ladders and it they go up the ladder and then they at the top of the snake and they bet down again. So, it's got to get steadied out. It's too up and down at the moment. They need to steady the ship. I think you got to keep with the same manager in my opinion. He's proven that he did get he did get results last year. This is what I wanted to see from M Carrick this last season when it was going well and everybody's going I'll give him the job. I was like yeah it's even when I was manager at Wol it's easy when you're winning every week honestly it's so you get up on a Saturday morning you go oh we're going to win again but when it's when you're not doing well how the managers react and and now this is the time where you see how he's going to react. what you changing manager for. You know, you could bring in an Angelotti, but if you want to bring in Angelotti and say, "Right, you got to win the league," he's going to fail miserably. Yeah. But if you want to come in and say, "Right, let's start starting learn how to walk first and we'll go from there." It's just bring a manager in and it's the same thing. It's Man United. Oh, you got to win the league or you got to get to you're entitled to get top four. That's not Man United anymore. Conte comes in, he'll go right. We're going to get tight at the back and we'll start from there. >> But they done it, as Sue said, they've done it the wrong way round. They went forwards that window, midfield this window, and we'll go defenders after. I don't I think that they're here for a long time cuz the way it is now with fair plays and everything, you know, they can't go out and buy all the top players in the world. They're I've said it before, they're on a they're buying on the flip of a coin. If he turns on heads, he's a good player. If he turns on to tails, it's not. And you're not going to get successful like that.