Michael Carrick walked into the conference room at Carton House hotel with a spring in his step, just a day after Manchester United won their second trophy of pre-season. But the manager's good mood was not about the Snapdragon Cup or the Boyle Sports Cup; it was news from home. His daughter Louise had passed her A-Levels, and the proud dad even mentioned it during a 25-minute chat with journalists covering United's training camp in County Kildare.
Settled pre-season and new additions
United have had a settled pre-season, jetting in and out around Europe and spending weeks at Carrington, which has been a positive and productive change, according to the Manchester Evening News. The mood within the squad is good, and new additions have added to the dynamic. Carrick spoke warmly of the impact of Karl Darlow and Youri Tielemans, but reserved the most praise for Andrey Santos.
Transfer window demands
The transfer window is arguably the only time Carrick seems keen to make a point. He was forthright, saying, "We need more, we want more." On four occasions, he said United have to "keep pushing." In a summer when elite clubs are spending £100m+ on players, United are shopping in a different market, making Carrick's job more difficult, but he will never complain publicly. He did at least say they might have to break the bank eventually to get the right player.
Challenge and belief
Carrick believes it was more of a challenge to earn the dressing room's respect when he joined as a player 20 years ago than it is now to be the figurehead. "I have to say, coming in to start with as a player was probably the biggest challenge. I'm not saying this is easier, but it was the biggest challenge. It was new. It was a massive step up, coming into a whole different environment of something that I didn't know," he said.
He added, "So that was a huge challenge of adapting to that, and then obviously being here for so long, in different ways, it kind of becomes a bit more of a natural environment and you kind of get used to being around it and it becomes normal in some ways."
Carrick understands the club. A year ago, United had finished 15th in the Premier League and struggled under Ruben Amorim. Carrick began to turn things around, and although talk of challenging for the title feels premature, he knows United should be contenders. "We've definitely got the potential to achieve something really special," he said.
When told several players have talked up the possibility of winning the 21st league title, Carrick looked delighted. "For the players to believe that, it puts us all in a good place. I think you've got to have the belief, you've got to be going into the season thinking we can achieve something special," he said. "Don't be going into a season thinking this could be a struggle. We've got to set out to really achieve something. So for the players to believe that, first and foremost, my words are words, I sit here and tell you anything, but they've got to go out there and do it and feel it."
