Michael Carrick insists he is not feeling the pressure as Manchester United manager after an ‘unacceptable’ Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Brighton.
Carrick and his plays were booed off with chants of ‘what the f***ing hell was that?’ from the displeased supporters in the Stretford End after United blew a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.
‘We can’t accept that as a group. I take responsibility for it,’ Carrick said.
‘The performance towards the end of the second half, that’s on me.
‘We’ll all be better. We have to be better. We have a big game on Sunday that we have to prepare for. We’re out of this competition and we have to go back to winning football matches. It doesn’t feel good at the moment.’
Director of football Jason Wilcox looked shellshocked at the final whistle and after throwing away victory in the final seconds at Everton, losing in abject fashion at Old Trafford to Manchester City and now getting out-worked at home by Brighton to go out of the cup, the boos of discontent are growing ever louder.
Michael Carrick says it’s not acceptable to see his Man United side tumble out the Carabao Cup
Carrick saw his United side blow a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Old Trafford against Brighton
‘We all know it’s there,’ Carrick said of the boos.
‘We know it’s there whether it’s good or whether it’s not good. I think it’s pretty obvious.
‘We’ve all got feelings, we’ve all got emotions to a point, but it’s how you deal with that that is the important thing. Being here toughens you up over a period of time, so it depends how you deal with it.
‘You’ve got to deal with it in a way where you can cope with it and you can bring out the best in yourself, and whatever, however you do that, with your motivation and the confidence deep within yourself, as a whole group I’m talking about here, that we know we can win football matches and that’s what we are here for is to win.’
Asked if this miserable start to the season, which also saw United lose at newly-promoted Hull City on the opening weekend, has him sweating over his job, Carrick was defiant in response.
‘No, I don’t feel under pressure,’ he said.
‘Either way, that doesn’t bother me one bit. It generally doesn’t bother me one bit.
‘I understand what goes on outside and how the world works, but it generally doesn’t bother me.
‘What bothers me is winning games and having a good feeling around the place, and a good feeling around the group to know we’re moving in a good direction. That’s ultimately what bothers me.
‘When we’re on a good run, the biggest thing I’m worried about or thinking about is keeping the good run going and keeping everything on an even level really, to keep pushing that it’s not enough.
‘And if we’re not on a good run, then we’ve got to get back to being on a good run. So, that’s as simple as it gets.
‘We’ve got to win football matches and we can do; I fully believe we will do. But obviously we’ve got to do it pretty quick and Sunday is a starting point.’
Shea Lacey scored the opening goal – a ‘great moment’ that Carrick conceded will get lost in light of this cup exit – and Mason Mount added a second before United unravelled badly.
But it was another academy player, 15-year-old JJ Gabriel, that dominated the lead-up to this match after the youngster, along with his family, requested contract termination as he shocked everyone at the club by asking to leave.
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Manchester United’s teenage prodigy JJ Gabriel, 15, announced on Tuesday that he wants out
Gabriel’s entourage have been left displeased by his lack of first team opportunities and while the original plan was to include him in the matchday squad for the Brighton game, that had to be shelved following the termination request and the fact Gabriel has not trained this week as he now appears to be effectively on strike.
‘I just think we’ve got to be really careful of the whole situation,’ Carrick said of Gabriel’s situation.
‘He’s a young boy, he’s 15, and for me, definitely, and from a club point of view, is about looking after our younger players, their welfare, their well-being, their exposure, and I think we’ve got to be really, all of us, I think we’ve got to be really conscious of that in this situation,’ Carrick added.
Asked if he is involved in ongoing conversations given United still feel this situation with their brightest attacking player is rectifiable, Carrick confirmed it’s a team effort.
‘As a club for sure, we’re all involved in those conversations,’ he concluded. ‘I just think we’ve got to be very careful of that.’
Brighton never lost belief and that was the key ingredient that they had against United to come from 2-0 down to win 3-2, according to their boss Fabian Hurzeler.
‘I definitely believed and belief was a big word in the preparation for us,’ he explained.
‘When you go to a place like here you need to have belief and then to show it when you are 2-0 down shows real character.
‘That shows the players have a real social bond.
‘The foundation was that togetherness, this connection, the relationships they build on the pitch. The longer the game went on the more we had control.’
