Michael Carrick has insisted he expects to remain Manchester United manager for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Roma after his side fell to a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. The loss was United's fourth of the Premier League season and leaves them with just one win in their opening nine games, the worst start to a campaign in the club's history.
United sit 16th in the table and face the possibility of dropping into the relegation zone by the end of the weekend if results do not go their way. Second-half goals from Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer condemned United to defeat, despite a positive first-half performance from the away side.
Carrick's one-word response on his future
Carrick, 45, spoke to TNT Sports after the game and was asked whether he thinks he will remain in his position for the match against the Serie A side, to which he simply answered: "Yes".
He further opened up about the defeat as he lamented his side's lack of potency in front of goal. He said: "We didn't get going second half, we should've been up in the first half. Everything was as positive as we could've hoped for. We looked really dangerous.
"Found a way of unravelling in the second half. Bad goal to concede and then the penalty, we're right up against it. The game turned on its head. I don't think our heads dropped. The boys were in a good place first half. You could see that with the performance in the first half."
Second-half collapse and red card
Carrick's side were undone by the quality of Xabi Alonso's side, who also had two goals disallowed that were initially netted by Estevao in his first start of the season. United were not helped by Lisandro Martinez's sending off, with the Argentine receiving two yellow cards in a matter of seconds. His first was for his attempted hack of Rogers and the second came for his foul of Wesley Fofana that resulted in Chelsea earning the penalty.
The 28-year-old was ignored by his manager when making his way off the pitch, with Carrick instead focusing on writing in his notebook. Following the action, Rogers was named man of the match and discussed the competition he has with Palmer.
Rogers on the win and competition with Palmer
The England star said to TNT Sports: "First half was tough. They played well. We really stamped our authority in the second half. It was a massive conscious effort to go again and we deserved the win.
"I'm loving [it at Chelsea]. It's friendly competition [with Cole Palmer to score more goals]. If we're both doing well, the team are doing well, and that's the most important thing."
United are swiftly back in action in Europe on Tuesday and have suffered back-to-back defeats in the competition at the hands of Atletico Madrid and Como.
