Michael Carrick claims he was not waving goodbye to Manchester United fans after their humiliating 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford – but admitted he is unsure about his future.
United are winless in their last eight games in all competitions and the loss capped off a devastating week which also saw them battered 4-1 at Como in the Champions League.
Goals from Rayan, Marcus Tavernier, and Evanilson sank United, who haven’t won a league game at home since August, and Carrick’s decision to drop Bruno Fernandes backfired.
Carrick, who did a lap of Old Trafford at full time to clap the fans, told Sky Sports: ‘It wasn’t a farewell from me.
‘I’ve got mixed emotions, I’m feeling it for my players, they’re going through a tough spell. Some of it we can help, some of it the situation unravels and the boys are feeling it at the moment. Mixed emotions for the supporters to respond in that way.
‘It’s a tough situation, there’s no hiding from it. What it looks like and what’s next I really don’t know.
Michael Carrick insists he was not saying farewell to Manchester United fans as he did a lap of Old Trafford after their 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth
After two wins in 12 games this season, the club legend admitted he is unsure about his future
‘I will always do my best for the football club and I won’t change that now. I love what I do and I feel the responsibility – we’ll have to wait and see.
‘It’s difficult for me to have a day like this and feel the emotion and dynamics, not for me personally but for Man United, it was really mixed, I feel a lot of responsibility, it hurts an awful lot to see us going through this.
‘It wasn’t a nice way to end the game. It was a tough day for them and we went into the game being rocked a little bit and you could feel that on the pitch. They’re really hurting, the players, the ones I’ve spoken to. It’s not a nice feeling to see the disappointment but you have to accept it, it’s the situation we’re in at the moment.
‘To have that connection with the supporters it’s mixed emotions, it’ll take a bit of time to digest but I certainly appreciate their support. The situation is where we are and we haven’t had results or performances that have been good enough.’
Harry Maguire spoke out in defence of Carrick at full time, saying: ‘At the moment we’re not doing enough as players. Michael turned our season on its head last year and we played brilliant football and got brilliant results. This season we haven’t performed well enough as individuals.
‘We have got to find something, question yourself, look in the mirror, that’s the most important thing – think what you can do more and contribute to the team and if we do that we’ll get somewhere.’
Former United defender Ashley Young, who won the 2012-13 Premier League title with the club, accused the players of ‘giving up’.
‘There have been different managers [in recent seasons] but it’s the same players,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘There have been a few changes in players but they’re just not showing anything. You could tell today that it was like they’d given up – they’re not running for this manager and they’re not wanting to fight.
‘The fans deserve so much more, you can tell they want more and they know he’s been let down by those players.’
Jamie Carragher said that Carrick’s position was ‘untenable’ at full time but he has also received widespread sympathy, with many considering the owners and top brass at the club to be culpable.
They recruited no defenders over the summer and are now shipping goals for fun – the only clean sheet they have kept all season was against Azerbaijani minnows Sabah.
The long-term decision-making of owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family, CEO Omar Berrada, and technical director Jason Wilcox has been called into question.
That was the subject of an explosive rant by Lisandro Martinez after the recent 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid. The defender said earlier this month: ‘I expect more (investment) 100 per cent. I expect more from our technical director. I have to be honest.
‘As players we have to do more but it is also important when you make a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night.
‘I have to control myself a lot but sometimes it’s a reflection of the mirror of how our club is at the moment.
‘We did a fantastic season last season and now we expect more from the top; more players to compete because many teams bring many players as well.’
But Carrick’s authority over the players has been called into question after that swipe and the invective by Fernandes this week.
Club captain Fernandes was dropped for the Bournemouth match after saying in the aftermatch of the Como drubbing: ‘It’s a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams they get confidence.’
Asked if he meant that Carrick got his tactics wrong, Fernandes added: ‘That’s on the manager and staff to say, not me.
‘Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable. As you saw with Como, the centre back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable to.’
Wayne Rooney lambasted Manchester United‘s players in the wake of such comments, describing the group as ‘selfish’ and ‘like babies’ amid a dismal run of form.
He told the United Stand podcast: ‘These players, they’re selfish. They don’t care about their team-mates, don’t care about the manager, the staff or the fans, they care about themselves. If they’re not getting what’s right for them, they’re like babies and just throw their toys out of the pram and go and deflect the blame on to anyone else but themselves.’
Carrick admitted ahead of the Bournemouth match that the club has ‘lost our way’ in a five-minute speech.
He took over from Ruben Amorim on an interim basis last season, steering the club to third and Champions League qualification, but has won just two of 12 games this campaign.
More to follow.
