Michael Carrick is facing mounting pressure at Manchester United after a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como on Wednesday evening, leaving the club 13th in the Premier League with a daunting run of fixtures ahead.
Defeat in Italy deepens United's struggles
United suffered a brutal 4-1 loss at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, with Joshua Zirkzee's late strike counting for little against a brace from Nico Paz and further goals from Anastasios Douvikas and Jacobo Ramon. The Reds looked sluggish for large parts of the clash.
Carrick, who took permanent charge this summer after a successful interim stint between January and May, has won just one of United's opening seven Premier League games. The club's Champions League campaign has also been unkind, following a 4-0 rout of Sabah in their opening match with a 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid earlier this month.
Carrick accepts responsibility
Speaking after the defeat, Carrick told TNT Sport: "I 100 per cent take responsibility for the overall team and the performance. That's where it stops. It stops with me. I'm absolutely fine with that, I accept that totally. But as a supporter of this football club for so long, and I care a lot about this football club, to see a performance like that is unacceptable, I have to say."
When asked if this was the level of his current squad, Carrick said: "100 per cent that's not [it] because we've shown it for six or seven months. But you can't turn it on and off and you can't choose when you want to perform and when you don't want to perform, or when you give absolutely everything or when you maybe don't. So, until you do that, you're not going to win football matches enough."
Upcoming fixtures crucial for United's season
United return to Old Trafford on Sunday, October 25 to face Bournemouth, who are buoyed by their first league win of the season. Six days later, Carrick's men travel to Stamford Bridge to face Xabi Alonso's high-flying Chelsea.
A Champions League tie with AS Roma at home then starts November, followed by a home clash with Aston Villa before the international break. After that, a derby with Liverpool at Anfield awaits on Sunday, November 22.
United's next five fixtures are: Manchester United vs Bournemouth (Sunday, October 25), Chelsea vs Manchester United (Saturday, October 31), Manchester United vs Roma (Tuesday, November 3), Manchester United vs Aston Villa (Sunday, November 8), and Liverpool vs Manchester United (Sunday, November 22).
