Michael Carrick used a five-minute opening speech to admit that Manchester United have “lost our way” but insisted he still believes he is the right person to turn the club’s fortunes around.
The manager has come under fierce pressure amid a seven-game winless run in all competitions and criticism of his tactics from captain Bruno Fernandes following the 4-1 defeat in Como.
Carrick denied that his squad is “divided” following the criticism from Fernandes, but reiterated the “hurt” he has felt since the “unacceptable” performance on Wednesday.
Carrick will take charge of United against Bournemouth on Sunday and the former midfielder wanted to speak first before being asked a question in his pre-match press conference.
He used his address to implore the importance of “sacrifice”, “humility” and “hard work” in an impassioned speech about the “values” of the club and “respecting” the responsibility of representing United.
“We had five months of relative success and I was happy with what I’ve been seeing,” Carrick said. “Wednesday was a bad night that hurt a lot. It was unacceptable. It was a tough moment. My responsibility is to get a team on the pitch that represents the supporters and makes them proud and we’ve gone away from that.
“I fully believe we will get back to it but we need to recognise we’ve gone away from that. It comes down to humility, being hard-working. There’s been a resilience about this football club for a long time and that runs very deep. Manchester United is always bigger than any individual, bigger than me, bigger than any player.
“We need to show what it means and respect this football club, respect what it means. I’m not entitled to be here and we’re not entitled to win. It takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice. It’s important we live up to that and for me to push those values. We’ve lost our way but I’m totally convinced we’ll get that back.”
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