Carrick takes blame for Man Utd cup exit, demands quick response

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has taken responsibility for his side’s Carabao Cup exit after they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Brighton at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

United looked in control after Shea Lacey and Mason Mount put them 2-0 ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, but Brighton fought back through Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper to secure a place in the fourth round.

The defeat came days after United lost 1-0 to Manchester City in the Premier League and added to a difficult spell for Carrick’s side.

Speaking after the match, Carrick accepted responsibility for the defeat and said United must respond quickly, with Sunday’s trip to Fulham their next opportunity.

“The team’s on me. When we win, people say I’m doing a good job. If we don’t win or don’t get results, then a lot of it is on me. I accept that. I’m not hiding away from any of that. That is what it is,” Carrick said.

Asked how the game had unravelled after United’s strong opening, Carrick acknowledged the dramatic contrast between the start and the end of the match.

“Yeah. It’s a good question, to be honest with you. I think the way we started the game, 20 or 25 minutes into the game, we were in such a good position, playing well and doing all the things we wanted to do. It feels like a long time ago now,” the former England international said.

“The feeling at the start of the game and the feeling at the end couldn’t have been further apart. We have to accept that the game can’t go in that direction from where we were,” Carrick added.

On whether he had seen enough resilience from his players to recover from the latest setbacks, the United coach said several disappointments had combined to create a bigger sense of frustration.

“Yeah. I mean, a couple of smaller things ended up accumulating into something bigger. I understand why you’re asking the question. If you go from the Everton last-minute goal to the City goal, it creates a bit of a feeling. Then there’s the game today,” Carrick explained.

“We fully accept it. I’ve told them to take responsibility. We can’t put ourselves in that position after being ahead in the game and have it finish like it did,” he said.

“A couple of things have gone against us, and all of a sudden it becomes a greater thing from nowhere, really. We’ve got to react to it. We’ve got another game on Sunday, and that’s the crucial thing now,” the coach noted.

“It’s happened quickly tonight, and over a period of two or three weeks there has been a lot of frustration and disappointment around. We need to flip that and start winning games again,” Carrick added.

The United boss rejected the suggestion that he had been let down by the squad when asked whether he felt “sold short” by his players.

“No. The team’s on me. When we win, people say I’m doing a good job. If we don’t win or don’t get results, then a lot of it is on me. I accept that. I’m not hiding away from any of that. That is what it is,” Carrick said.

Asked whether the reaction of the players gave him confidence that the situation could be turned around, Carrick backed his squad to respond.

“Yeah, of course we can turn it around. We’ve got some really good players. It feels bad at the moment because we haven’t had a great week, or two or three weeks, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win another game of football quickly,” the former Manchester United player said.

“The players have shown before what they’re capable of doing, and we have as a group. It doesn’t count for much; it’s always about what happens next,” Carrick explained.

“That’s the ultimate challenge. It always has been here and always will be. It’s about dealing with the moments, the ups and the downs. We’ve certainly got to deal with this moment in a good way,” the coach added.

Carrick was also asked how he intended to prevent United from falling into what was described as a “negative spiral”, having experienced similar difficult periods at the club in recent years.

The former United midfielder dismissed concerns about external pressure and said his focus remained on winning matches.

“No pressure anyway. Either way, that doesn’t bother me one bit. I understand what goes on outside and how the world works, but it genuinely doesn’t bother me,” Carrick said.

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“What bothers me is winning games, having a good feeling around the place and knowing we’re moving in a good direction. If we’re on a good run, the biggest thing I’m thinking about is keeping it going and keeping everything on an even level,” he explained.

“If we’re not on a good run, then we’ve got to get back to being on a good run. That’s as simple as it gets. We’ve got to win football matches, and I fully believe we will,” the coach noted.

“Obviously, we’ve got to do it pretty quickly, and Sunday is a starting point,” Carrick added.

Asked whether he needed to protect the players from the negativity surrounding the team, particularly after supporters expressed their frustration at the final whistle, Carrick said the players had to learn to deal with such situations.

“I think we know it’s there, whether it’s good or not good. It’s pretty obvious. We’ve all got feelings, but how you deal with that is the important thing,” the United manager said.

“Being here toughens you up over time. You’ve got to deal with it in a way where you can cope with it and bring out the best in yourself,” Carrick explained.

“As a whole group, we know we can win football matches, and that’s what we are here to do. A couple of little things have gone one way, and we’ve gone out of the cup tonight,” he said.

“The feeling around the place feels bigger than that, but it doesn’t have to be like that. If we win football matches again, it can go in a different direction,” the former England international added.

Carrick was asked what he could have done differently from a coaching perspective, but the United boss said he did not believe immediately dissecting the defeat was the priority.

“I thought we were doing a lot of the good things that we wanted to do early in the game and put ourselves in a great position. We just let it slip by not doing certain things. I don’t think now is the time to dissect that,” Carrick said.

He also expressed disappointment that Lacey’s contribution had been overshadowed by the defeat.

“It’s a shame that Shea’s moment, such a great moment for him, his family, his friends and the whole academy, gets a bit lost. It won’t for him when things settle down, but as we sit here now, it feels like it was a long time ago,” the coach said.

Asked whether the latest results were evidence of a deeper problem or simply fine margins, particularly after the late Everton goal and the defeat to City, Carrick maintained that small margins had influenced United’s results.

“It always is fine margins. Even when we were winning, sometimes we won without playing particularly well. We found a way to win,” the United boss said.

“Some of the games we’ve played this year, we’ve played better and haven’t had the results. I’ve said that before, but results are what you’re judged on,” Carrick explained.

“I understand people judge that, not all the details of the performance. That is probably what I’ll look at,” the former United player added.

JJ Gabriel

Carrick was also asked about highly rated academy teenager JJ Gabriel, whose situation had dominated the build-up to the Brighton match.

The coach urged caution over the attention surrounding the youngster and stressed that the club’s priority was his welfare.

“I think we’ve got to be really careful of the whole situation. He’s a young boy, and the biggest thing for me, and for the club, is his welfare, wellbeing and exposure. I think all of us have to be really conscious of that in this situation,” Carrick said.

Asked whether he was personally involved in discussions concerning Gabriel, Carrick said the matter involved the club as a whole.

“No, as a club, we are all involved in those conversations. We have to be very careful with that,” the United manager noted.

United will now turn their attention to Fulham, with Carrick identifying Sunday’s Premier League fixture as the first opportunity to respond to the defeat and begin changing the mood around the club.