Carrick accepts responsibility as Manchester United seek Premier League response

Michael Carrick has taken responsibility for Manchester United’s poor start to the season but insists their recent run of results is “not the end of the world”.

United are 13th in the Premier League after winning only one of their opening four matches. They lost the Manchester derby before suffering a dramatic 3-2 defeat by Brighton in the English League Cup, despite leading 2-0.

That was the first time in 50 years that Manchester United had lost at home after taking a two-goal lead. The players were booed by supporters at the final whistle as frustration grew around Old Trafford.

Carrick was speaking at his news conference before Sunday’s trip to Fulham in the fifth round of Premier League fixtures. His comments were reported by The Independent.

“This is not a catastrophe or a calamity. It is not the end of the world,” Carrick said. “We are not in a position where we are going through a really long run of disastrous results.

“We have lost two games recently, but we feel that we started all the games we have played well and were present in them, even if we were not the better team at the beginning.”

Carrick said the team had produced enough positive moments in those matches to provide grounds for confidence, despite the pressure surrounding the club.

“It is not as though we are really struggling all the time,” he added. “We have done a lot of good things in these games. That is where the confidence comes from.

“The good things we have done somehow get completely lost in the atmosphere around us, but they are not lost on us.”

The former Manchester United midfielder also rejected the idea that the situation should become a search for individuals to blame.

“This is not a blame game. Blame me, that is fine. I will take responsibility for whatever it is, but it is not about blaming people,” he said.

“For us, it is about finding solutions and becoming better. It is all of us as a football club, as a group of players, the coaching staff, the owners and the supporters. It is a collective responsibility.

“I know where we want to get to, and we want to get there quickly.”

Asked whether he felt under pressure to turn the situation around immediately, Carrick said it would take more than one or two results to change the picture.

“I hate losing, but that does not mean the world has fallen apart,” he said. “That cannot happen for us, because we have to perform well and we have to win. We still have a lot of games ahead of us.”

Carrick also urged caution over reports involving 15-year-old Manchester United academy player Jay Gabriel. The teenager has been the subject of increased attention amid reports that he plans to leave the club following disagreements between his family and Manchester United, with Real Madrid showing growing interest.

Carrick offered no update on Gabriel’s future, saying: “He is a young boy, and it is certainly important that we do not put anything out into the public domain here.

“With the level of interest, scrutiny and everything surrounding him, we have to be careful and sensible, and put him and his welfare before anything else.”