Carrick takes responsibility for Manchester United’s EFL Cup exit

Michael Carrick said that he understood the frustrations of Manchester United fans. | Photo Credit: AP

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick took responsibility for his side’s EFL Cup exit after it blew a two-goal lead against Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday.

United raced into a two-goal lead inside the first 10 minutes, but was unable to hold onto its lead as it lost after leading by two at home for the first time in 50 years.

“We had the game exactly where we wanted it and let it get away from us. That’s the story of the game,” Carrick said.

“There are a number of things we will look at and dissect. I know quite a bit about where it went wrong.

“We can’t accept that as a group. Listen, I take responsibility for that, with the performance towards the end of the second half. That is on me.”

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“We will all be better. We have to be better. We have a big game on Sunday that we have to prepare for. We are out of this competition. We’ve got to get back to winning football matches,” Carrick said.

“It doesn’t feel good at the moment, let me tell you. It doesn’t feel good. We can get back to winning football matches and we can do a lot of things better.

“We want to win and we want to win quickly. It’s as simple as that. The next game is Sunday and that is purely all I’m thinking about. We will get better with a number of things.”

Pressure is beginning to mount against Carrick, who took over from Ruben Amorim on an interim basis last season before taking charge permanently, and with fan discontent beginning to mount, he said he understood their frustrations.

“It’s pretty obvious isn’t it? I totally understand the feelings of the supporters,” he said.

“You have to accept it. I totally accept it. It is on me ultimately you know, as a team, what we look like, how we play, what results we get.

“I will take that. I will take the praise and I will stand here and take the criticism and the upset. I totally understand it tonight for the way the game went. We have got to win games.”