Michael Carrick opened his Manchester United press conference with a six-minute passionate speech, reminding his players that the club was "built on hard work, and we should never forget that."
The Red Devils boss is under pressure having won just two of his opening 11 games, with their most recent outing being a 4-1 reverse at the hands of Como in the Champions League. Carrick was then called out by his captain Bruno Fernandes, who suggested that the failed tactics were down to him, with the United boss taking the unusual step of beginning his press conference without taking any questions, and instead making his own views clear.
Carrick's Emotional Address
The former player turned manager accepted their dire recent results, but made a point to demand more from his players, referencing how so many of the club's greats have put the team before themselves. Carrick began: "I think it’s important... recently we haven’t had a good time I think that’s obvious, I totally accept that. We had five months of relative success and I was happy with many things I was seeing."
"We haven’t done well enough recently. Wednesday was a bad night for a lot of reasons, it really hurt a lot, it hurt me to see how the game panned out. As I said after the game, it was unacceptable. Supports pay a lot of money to follow the team and to leave with that feeling... My responsibility is to get a team on the pitch that the supporters can identify with, and we have gone away from that recently and we need need to something about it."
Lessons from Club Legends
"It was never about Ryan Giggs, it was never about Ryan Giggs, it was about Manchester United. Wayne Rooney, the greatest goalscorer in the club’s history, he played for team. Sir Alex Ferguson, the greatest manager in the club’s history... Sir Matt [Busby] and Sir Bobby [Charlton], their resilience was beyond belief what they showed and how they rebuilt this football club. It was built on hard work, and we should never forget that."
It comes after Carrick, in response to Fernandes' comments after Wednesday's loss, said: "There's a little bit of whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don't run, and you don't run forward, and you don't run back, you aren't going to win."
Looking Ahead to Bournemouth
The United boss will hope to snap their winless run this weekend when his side host Bournemouth, who themselves have struggled for wins this season, and he also underlined that it as "pretty clear" his players need to stop airing their issues publicly after defeats.
