Michael Carrick says faith in Manchester United to overcome challenging start to season

Michael Carrick believes that Manchester United will overcome the challenges and that its current situation is not a “disaster” as people are saying.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

Manchester United coach Michael Carrick vowed that he has faith in his side, which is hungry and eager to put things right, ahead of the Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

United has recorded its worst start to a season in 40 years, winning just one game out of six across competitions. In the Premier League, the Red Devils have six points in as many games after drawing against a 10-man Tottenham on Saturday.

“We definitely need to start strong tomorrow evening... we know what we’re expecting tomorrow night, we’ll be ready for it, the boys are ready for it,” Carrick said.

“The way we responded (against Tottenham) in the second half in particular, I think you could see that, so that gives me a lot of faith that I had already in the boys, that they are hungry and eager to put things right.”

Carrick believes that United will overcome the challenges and that its current situation is not a “disaster” as people are saying.

“I understand when it’s not going too well, there’s a real kind of clamour, and a real feeling of ‘it’s a disaster’ and ‘it’s all wrong’ and ‘everything needs to be changed’,” he continued.

“I kind of get that, obviously, but that’s not in our mindset, that’s certainly not in my mindset. To achieve anything, really, you’ve got to be able to deal with things that are difficult and you’ve got to overcome things.

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“That’s part of it, I did it throughout my career just to be here... we’re right there now in the middle of it, but I totally believe that we’ll come through it.”

However, Carrick isn’t feeling much pressure despite the poor start. “I think there’s our own expectation. We know what we want, what we’re capable of doing as a team and that comes from us,” he said.

“I certainly don’t look outside or elsewhere at what it should look like. I’ve felt the ups and I’ve felt the downs, I don’t feel a pressure from that at all. It’s us wanting to succeed and we want to win, we want to be part of something successful, so that’s the drive.”