Kobbie Mainoo says Manchester United’s stars owe it to head coach Michael Carrick and the fans to turn their season around – and believe it might only take one win.
United go into Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Roma at Old Trafford without a victory in nine games and hovering one place above the Premier League relegation zone.
It has left Carrick fighting for his job and led to fans turning on the players after the last home game against Bournemouth which ended with a 3-0 defeat.
Carrick has done his best to shield the squad from criticism, and Mainoo said: ‘I feel like our way to repay that is to also be behind the manager on the pitch and off it, and fight for us as a team.
‘In these tough times you can’t expect the fans 100,000 per cent of the time to be happy and cheering when we’re not putting out results, you know. We owe it to them to put the results out there for them to cheer again.
‘Of course, it’s been a tough season. We’ve not had the results we’ve wanted, but you know we need to look forward now. There are big, big games ahead and I feel like we’re one win away from changing that.
Kobbie Mainoo says Manchester United’s stars owe it to Michael Carrick and the fans to turn their season around
‘I’ve been at this club for a long time and I know there’s always going to be ups and downs. It’s never going to be plain sailing and smooth to the top. So you expect bumps and the best thing about them is you’re able to bounce back from them.’
Mainoo signed a new five-year contract in April after re-establishing himself at his boyhood club under Carrick, having asked to leave under the previous head coach Ruben Amorim.
Despite the club’s fortunes taking a nosedive this season, the 21-year-old is determined to help restore the standards that made United great.
‘I’m very grateful to the boss for putting the trust in me as soon as he came in, putting that belief in me and giving me all the advice that he has,’ added Mainoo, who returned to action at Chelsea on Saturday after missing five games.
‘Knowing he’s a player who’s been at this club and knows the history of this club and knows what it takes to win, I take those words to heart and I try and apply them every day in training and in games.
‘United’s a huge club, so I think a lot of people know the values that this club holds and that have been passed down through the people who’ve worked and played here. I feel like I take some responsibility in that and in spreading the word of what is Manchester United, coming up through the academy. I plan to send that message for hopefully as long as I can.
‘I’ve tried to take on more responsibility in the team. I want to impose myself more in games and they’ve definitely helped to do that, giving me more responsibility with taking the ball. There have been ups and downs, but I have to have belief in myself even in these tough times.
‘I feel like in every period of my career so far, I’ve tried to take positives from them. Even, you know, times that I’m not playing I’ve learned things and I’m still applying them to this day.’
