Michael Carrick felt Manchester United’s purposeful point at bitter rivals Leeds marked a “fresh start”, despite their wait for a win rumbling on.
Bryan Mbeumo silenced Elland Road in the first half of Sunday’s battle, only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to strike shortly after half-time as the Roses rivals played out an intense 1-1 draw.
The result extended Manchester United’s winless run to a sixth match in all competitions, but Carrick saw positive signs five days on from the 2-0 Champions League loss at Atletico Madrid that sparked Lisandro Martinez’s stunning criticism of the club.
“We’re not getting too carried away because we haven’t won the game,” said the Red Devils head coach, who started Martinez at Leeds but had to replace him at the break due to a thigh complaint.
“I think if you keep doing the right things for the right reasons then you get what you deserve in the end.
“It felt like a bit of a fresh start, if I’m honest, today in where we’re at and accepting it and doing something about it.
“It definitely shows that the boys are desperate to do well for each other as much as anything else and how much they appreciate playing for this football club, because there was a real purpose to the group over the last couple of days.
“They took it on the pitch and that’s a tough game today, I have to say. The way they play, it can find you out pretty quickly and the boys stood up to it really well.”
Manchester United head to Como on Wednesday looking for a first victory since last month’s Champions League opener against Sabah before attempting to kickstart their Premier League campaign at home to Bournemouth.
Carrick’s side go into next Sunday’s match with just seven points and one win from their first seven matches as their worst start to a campaign since 1986 continued in West Yorkshire.
“We’re not accepting it as everything’s great by any stretch,” the under-fire United boss said. “I’m realistic with that.
“But sometimes you do struggle, sometimes there’s a bit of where you have to find a way through it.
“We haven’t really had to go through that yet and we’ve got to find a way through it. There has been a cycle at times here over a period of time when it can go in different directions.
“We’ve got to be stable enough to keep doing the right things, like I said, for the right reasons as a group and we’re more than capable of winning football matches.
“It depends what you focus on. I understand the situation doesn’t look too good if you look at it from a certain way, but I’ve got no doubts that we can go on a good run.”
Leeds came into Sunday’s match tipped to beat their rivals on home soil for the first time in 24 years, but Daniel Farke’s men were unable to eke out a famous winner.
“I wanted to win this game and my boys did as well,” he said. “I think you could see this.
“We are a little bit disappointed that we didn’t win it, but on the other hand it says a lot about what we’ve done over the last years that we’re slightly disappointed with just a point against Man United.
“I think we were the better side today, the dominant side.”
Michael Carrick watches on from the touchline (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA).
Daniel Farke felt his Leeds side were dominant (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA).