Amid increasing pressure on his team and a growing threat to his own position as manager, Michael Carrick says he will do what is best for Manchester United after a 3-0 demolition by Bournemouth plunged his future into doubt. Winless in eight games in all competitions, the 20-time English champions slipped to within one point of the relegation zone after a damaging defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday. I’ve said it all along; I don’t change that now.
I love the responsibility, but we’ll have to wait and see.” Asked in a post-match news conference if he expects to be sacked in the coming days, Carrick replied: “I totally understand the situation. I’m not expecting anything in particular, to be honest. I’m carrying on as normal.
I love this place.” Despite a dismal run of results, the United fans largely supported the former midfielder as he made his way off the field at full-time before they turned on the club’s players. I need time to digest that,” added Carrick. We haven’t been good enough.” Carrick’s decision to drop captain Bruno Fernandes to the bench and not even introduce the Portuguese international as a substitute backfired.
Fernandes, last season’s Premier League player of the year, had criticised Carrick’s tactics after the 4-1 thrashing by Como on Wednesday. Carrick said before the game that his call was a “pure football” decision, but it was hard to believe Fernandes was not being punished as he was left on the bench for the entire match. However, he has been unable to arrest the club’s steep decline since his former boss Alex Ferguson retired as manager in 2013.
United were outspent by many of their rivals in the transfer market as they added just three midfielders – Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. But Carrick said a lack of investment did not justify such a decline in results.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
