Michael Carrick insists he has the backing of the Manchester United board after former manager Erik ten Hag accused the club's hierarchy of breaking promises.
Ten Hag, now technical director at FC Twente, criticised a "toxic culture" at United in an interview with The Athletic and claimed the football leadership failed to support him in the transfer market. Carrick, however, said that did not match his own experience at Old Trafford.
Carrick's Confidence in the Board
Asked whether he felt backed by the club's decision-makers, Carrick said: "Yeah, yeah. Why wouldn't I? I'm in this position, I have a good relationship, a really good relationship with everyone, everybody at the football club. There's really no issues and no problems with any of that side. We've got to win games of football and that's what we're striving to do."
Carrick is under pressure after a run of just two wins in 10 games to start the season, but said he had not sought reassurance from director of football Jason Wilcox, chief executive Omar Berrada or co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
"I don't need any reassurance," Carrick said. "It's pretty clear. I know the role, I know my responsibilities. I don't need anyone else to kind of tell me that or tell me when it's going well or when it needs to be better. I know that myself. I know the realities and I've got no problem with that."
Regular Talks with Wilcox and Berrada
Carrick was reluctant to criticise Ten Hag's comments, calling them his "opinion", but stressed he regularly held positive talks with Wilcox and Berrada.
"There are certain conversations we have that we're really clear with, with Jason, with Omar, with the owners, and down to the players. It's really important we're all pulling in the same direction," he said.
Ten Hag's Claims and Carrick's Response
Ten Hag was critical of the culture he found at United, calling out Cristiano Ronaldo for a lack of effort in training and a negative influence on players, accusing Marcus Rashford of lowering his standards, and suggesting the former Real Madrid trio of Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Casemiro increased player power.
All three have since left the club, while Rashford's effort has been applauded by Carrick this season. Carrick denied feeling there was a toxic culture at Old Trafford.
"No, I haven't. I haven't since I came back," Carrick said. "The players, the staff, they've given us everything that they could give. We've had some good performances, we've had some performances that we want to do better, we can improve on, we've made some mistakes. That's football and that's pushing performance.
"But I have to say, if you haven't got a good group, I'm not talking about the level, but the type of performance that the boys put into the weekend and the feeling that we have, there's a lot of togetherness there, there's a lot of will, there's a lot of determination to do better and wanting to do it for each other. So in that regard for the group, I couldn't be happier with the togetherness, for sure."
