Michael Carrick believes Manchester United can achieve "something really special" this season and is pleased his players are talking of an unlikely charge to the Premier League title.
Several squad members have spoken confidently about the prospect of going for top spot in 2026/27, having finished last season in excellent form under Carrick, who has now been given the job on a permanent basis.
Stability amid change
While the 45-year-old is not speaking quite as brashly as that, he knows winning the league is not out of reach. Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all enter the season with new managers in charge, while Arsenal will attempt to back up their first Premier League triumph in more than 20 years.
United have stability under Carrick, and there is a confident mood around the camp in pre-season, with players and staff praising a summer where they have stayed in Europe and spent most of their time training at Carrington.
Carrick's belief
"We've definitely got the potential to achieve something really special. I'm not hiding from the fact, and we should aim to do that," said Carrick.
"There's been change, how much does that affect us in terms of our thinking? Not much really until we play against somebody."
He added: "It's more of us trying to get the best out of ourselves, and like I said, it's start building on what we've already kind of got as a foundation. That's the encouraging bit, that we've gone through that spell and built each other's trust in some ways, with players looking at each other and looking at me and the staff and earning that, and then concentrating on what can we do to be better?"
"My answer is there's a lot of change, but really it's about us and what we do to maximise what we've got, that's going to make the difference for us."
Players' confidence welcomed
Carrick's players have not shied away from setting lofty goals in pre-season, and rather than try to play down these ambitions or reduce the pressure and expectation, the head coach was happy to see his men talking in such positive terms.
"First and foremost, for the players to believe that, it puts us all in a good place," he said. "I think you've got to have the belief, you've got to be going into the season thinking we can achieve something special. 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."
"For them to have that, and I feel it around them, you know, that excitement of if something's possible without getting carried away because of the whole challenge ahead of us, but we're coming from a good position at the moment and we'll have to see."
"I'm not going to make any crazy predictions, but I think on the back of what we've done, I keep saying it, I think that gives us the confidence to move forward."
