Michael Carrick’s stunning start to life as Manchester United boss has the team sat in the top four but the new head coach isn’t counting his chickens as he urged his players to build on their win at Arsenal
Michael Carrick has told his Manchester United players to “use the emotion and confidence” after seeing off Arsenal but isn’t getting carried away with any hopes of a top-four finish.
The Red Devils showed quality and character during their win at the Emirates as they came from behind before Matheus Cunha scored a late winner to down the Premier League leaders and further Carrick’s hopes of landing the job at Old Trafford long-term.
United have looked a side reborn following a dire spell under Ruben Amorim and, having seen off Manchester City the week prior, Carrick hopes that downing the top two sides in the country will give the players the confidence to kick on.
His remit was to deliver a return to the Champions League and six points from his first two games has seen them leap into the top four, above the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool, but the man in the dugout isn’t making any forecasts this early.
Carrick said after the win: “I know from our perspective, it’s just moving forward to the next game. It’s been less than two weeks we’ve been together. So it’s just keep getting good habits, really, and good routines and good habits. The boys have been fantastic with that. I don’t think we can look too far ahead.
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“We certainly won’t be, anyway. It’s a big week leading up to Fulham and games coming up. We’ll finish where we finish by getting the results. I know that’s kind of obvious, but looking too far ahead can come back and bite you really. So we’ve taken this week by week, and game by game. We’ll certainly continue to do that.
“But we’ve got to ride it and use the emotion, you have got to use the energy and use the confidence. You’ve got to be humble enough to understand how we could just achieve these two big results. It doesn’t just come easy, so we need to continue that and bottle it and use it again.”
Only once this season had United won successive games, underlining their struggles, but Carrick has come in and galvanised a struggling group.
Beyond the top three, which includes Aston Villa, the rest of the sides chasing European football remain hugely inconsistent. Liverpool’s five match winless run continued at the weekend as they lost at Bouremouth whilst Chelsea are finding their feet following a managerial change. Newcastle too remain inconsistent.
Despite their storied history United have only finished in the top four once across the past four seasons, that coming in Erik ten Hag’s first year, and returning to the Champions League would represent an impressive campaign.
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