Carrick: I feel at home

Michael Carrick has been thrown in at the deep end, with his first game as head coach as Manchester United taking place this afternoon against local rivals Manchester City.

Our former midfielder had an impressive set of results the last time he took on the role in the short term but, when talking to the press ahead of the derby, he insisted that he isn’t thinking about any role beyond this season.

No, not at the moment. I think we’re realistic as well, and where we are at the moment, why I’m here and the role I’ve got to do. That doesn’t change how we go about it in the day-to-day and the focus and making decisions for the long-term kind of strategy of the group and the playing squad and whatever that kind of adds on extra and the layers after that. I think I’m certainly not coming in thinking it’s a time where week-to-week, game-to-game, we’ve got to get through it and we’ve got to tick each one off. I think we’re on a plan to improve and improve beyond this season, and however that looks at this moment, all I can control is what we give the players and how we kind of create the atmosphere around the group. So that’s the main focus and then we’ll see what happens after that.

Carrick has reflected on the experience he’s already had as a coach at the club and is looking forward to spending more time in the role.

I just feel comfortable. I feel at home. I’m not comfortable in the fact where it’s nice and everything’s great. It’s comfortable in the fact that I’m happy in my skin, happy in this role. I know what it takes. I’ve worked closely with Jose and Ole for some time, so, when I took over, it felt quite a natural step. I understand the questions and that’s how it is, the old question until you achieve something. So that’s how it is, but all I can say is I feel at home, I feel I’m ready and really looking forward to getting to work.

Carrick was asked about his ambitions for the seasons and whether he would regard it as a failure if we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, given we don’t have any other competitions to compete in other than the Premier League until the end of the season.

I think we’ve got to be careful about what is success and what is failure in terms of so cleanly like that. I think it’s not as clear-cut as that. I think success is building and improving, and there’s no getting away from the fact that this club should be there. We can talk all day about where you should be, but it’s how you’re going to get there, you’ve got to earn it and you’ve got to prove that you’re good enough to get there. So that’s the challenge for us, and it always has been that, and that doesn’t change. It doesn’t change the motivation, the drive, and it doesn’t change the expectation, and it shouldn’t change the expectation. Certainly, there’s a bit of realism from me, but I’m definitely not going in [thinking] it’s all or nothing, but we need to improve and we need to keep up the league.

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