Michael Carrick has hit back after his future as Manchester United manager was questioned after a lackluster start to the season.
Days earlier, his team had been loudly booed when they led 2-0 in the Carabao Cup third round, only to lose 3-2 to Brighton.
Shay Lacey and Mason Mount put United 2-0 ahead after just 10 minutes, but the home side suffered a humiliating collapse, with Brighton’s Charalampos Kosturas pulling a goal back before half-time.
Goals from Pascal Gross (65′) and Maxime De Cuyper (70′) then completed the comeback and kept the Seagulls in the fourth round draw.
As the team made their way back down the tunnel, someone shouted “What the hell was that?!”…
Manchester United were booed after leading 2-0 and lost to Brighton 2-3 in the Carabao Cup
His press conference began with a reporter asking Carrick what he has learned about his team this week, its results, and what he would like to see different from them against Fulham at the weekend. manutd.com.
Carrick responded: “We’re always learning. As a group, as individuals, collectively, I think we’re always learning.
“At a certain point in time, when you try to move toward something, it doesn’t always go perfectly and it doesn’t always go according to plan.
“Well, I know history tells you that any successful team goes through a period where you have to get work out of it, you have to overcome it, you have to improve.
“We’ve gone through a little period now, recently, where it’s not quite what we wanted. I’m looking forward to the point at which we’ll go through it at some stage. It will come.
“We were really good last season and going into this season, whether it’s now or at some point during the season, there’s going to be a time when you don’t get everything you want.
“It’s about how you respond, how you react, stay focused, continue to do the right things and be as good as possible.
“You’re going to get through it, and you keep believing that you’re going to get through it. We fully believe that.
“It was one of those curses, actually for a week or two, the results weren’t going the way we wanted and the margins were very small in a couple of games.
“Goal in the 95th minute [against Everton]a goal that should not be achieved [against Man City]. All of a sudden, it’s not like that for me, but you can feel it’s much bigger than it actually is. We will solve this problem. Winning games is always the answer, it’s the answer to a lot of things. Sometimes it can also mask a lot of things, through winning games, people don’t see the full picture, so it goes both ways. “
🚨 Carrick fights back
🔺 Job uncertainty ‘ridiculous’
🔺 Manchester United is “100%” still his club
🔺 A poor operation is not a “catastrophe or catastrophe”
🔺 Take responsibility for failure
🔺 It is expected that there will be a temporary phenomenon at some stage through @MailSport #mufc— Chris Wheeler (@ChrisWheelerDM) September 18, 2026
Ask: “So are you confident you know how to overcome this?”
host: “Yes.”
Q: “On Wednesday, you said after the game that the pressure doesn’t bother you, but what about your staff? Your players, your friends, your families? You know what this club is and you’re right, it’s only for a short period of time. But sometimes all it takes is a defeat or a bad result for this huge noise to start and you might be able to protect yourself.” What about everyone else? “
host: “I think that’s my role, obviously, [it] Take care of yourself, take care of yourself, but I can also help impact a lot of other people. Of course there is. It’s great to be at this football club. There are good times, there are achievable things, there are good feelings, and of course there are disappointments, and sometimes smaller disappointments lead to bigger ones. It’s just part of coping and staying at this great football club. “
Q: “Did it always have the feel of a great football club?”
host: “Yes. One hundred percent yes, yes. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, really. This is the best place for me. So, in times when you might not be able to plan, sometimes are the best times when you can work through it, figure out some things, and come out stronger. So, like I said, during this time, what’s big may become small for a lot of other people. For us, the key is to keep it small. “Staying on track and understanding that it can happen, even though we don’t like it and we don’t want to accept it, it can happen and, like I said, the fact that it happened in the first set of the season, if it happened in November, after a couple of wins, it might be different, but I expect at some point we’re going to have to work through it and we’re in a position where we’re going to figure that out.”
Q: “You’ve been part of a coaching staff, and even as a player, where things can go downhill quickly, and some of these players have been through those seasons, so how do you stop that feeling? You talked about a feeling around the team after Wednesday night, how do you stop that feeling?”
host: “No, it’s not the feeling around the team, it’s not the feeling around the team, it’s the feeling elsewhere. To be clear, it’s not about us, me, the staff or the players, it’s not like that. It’s just the general feeling we just talked about and it can create but it can’t knock us down or derail us or [we can’t] Taking our attention away from it, or refocusing it, or thinking about things we have no control over. It’s about believing in what we do, what we’re good at, and continuing to do those things that give us a chance to win games. I think, like I just said, the margins are small and then everything escalates and we live in a world of instant reaction, instant judgment. That’s okay, that’s the way it is, but it’s not my world. Like I said, being realistic and understanding that this is coming and being prepared for it, understanding, understanding each other, I think is really important and laying the groundwork for what’s coming. “
Q: “Michael, you said you didn’t feel the pressure, but when you left with the players on Wednesday night and chants were being chanted in the Stretford Stand, it must have hurt on a personal level?”
host: “We don’t like losing football games, so it’s not that I don’t feel the emotion of losing a football game, but it doesn’t affect how I think about what we need to do next. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Ask: “Don’t you feel the need to show more emotion?”
host: “Do I need to show more emotion? In what way?”
Q: “Some fans might want to see that.”
host: “In what way?”
Q: “I don’t know? Sometimes they want to see more emotion…”
host: “What do you want me to show you?”
Q: “Michael, you talked about faith earlier. In a practical sense, how do you try to keep that faith? Like you and your staff, do you meet with the players? Or do you show them some video of a good time?”
host: “I think you have to put something in [of context]…This is not a disaster or a catastrophe. This is not the end of the world. We are not in a situation with dire consequences over the long term. You know, we’ve lost a few games recently. We feel like we’ve started, we’ve gone into all the games we’ve played, if not been a better team at the start of the games. So, it’s not like we’re really struggling all the time. We did a lot of good things in it and put ourselves in a very good position for the games we were involved in. So that belief certainly comes from the good that we do and in some ways is completely lost in the feeling around it, but we’re not lost in it. “
Q: “Hi Michael, some team news for the weekend. Are you expecting Luke to be back? Is there any chance Carlos will make his debut?”
host: “Both of them have a chance, really. Not 100 percent, but half a chance, yes.”
Q: “How was it with Luke? Was it as long as you expected because it felt so short at first?”
host: “Yeah, it’s short-term to be honest, but it’s just for the sake of playing, so we’ll see how he does at the weekend.”
Q: “Michael, you say that obviously we live in a world of instant reactions and judgements, and that’s absolutely correct, but football owners are also living in a world now where we see managers change quite often. Just looking at the recent experience of this club’s history, obviously new ownership took over the day-to-day operations, Eric ten Hag lasted 20 months from then. Ruben Ammoli lasted 1,449 months.
host: “Yes, but I think the outcome will be much longer than one or two games. I understand… first of all, putting all that aside, it doesn’t matter to me, what matters is… I know the club, I know the role, I know what the expectations are here in terms of playing to a certain standard, reaching a certain level, achieving certain goals on the pitch. So, I understand. [much] It’s more important to me than their expectations and what they want to see. I see. There were two or three games where we didn’t get a definite result and two or three games where it was too many because I really hate losing. But that doesn’t mean the world will collapse. To some, it is. That won’t work for us because we have to perform well, we have to win and we have a lot of games to plan for. This is exactly what we are doing. “
Q: “You’ve been very insistent and you’ve always taken responsibility for yourself whenever there’s been a bad result. You’ve never blamed the players, you’ve never publicly made excuses or anything like that. Because you do that, do you think that might lead to more criticism?”
host: “That’s why I’m here. It’s my responsibility. I’m okay with that. It’s not a blame game. We always look for something and someone to look at and point to, or for whatever reason, and then find blame. Sometimes if you want to find someone or something to blame, it’s almost a step too far. Blame me, no problem, I’ll take the blame or something to blame, it’s almost a step too far. Blame me, no problem, I’ll take the blame, whatever it is, but it’s not about blaming someone else.
Q: “You said on Wednesday that supporters should take a cautious approach towards JJ Gabriel. I was just wondering if there had been any progress or updates on resolving his future and how confident you were that the club would be able to resolve that issue?”
host: “I guess I’m just repeating what I said the other day. JJ, I think he’s a little boy and I think we’re certainly not going to play anything here and that’s important. I think with exposure and scrutiny and everything, you have to be careful and sensible and think about him as much as possible. So, whatever the situation is, the situation will work itself out. Making sure he’s OK is the important thing.”
