MICHAEL CARRICK insisted at Everton that Manchester United have not had a “bad start”. They have had a bad start.
Nobody had used the word “bad”. Carrick still felt the need to interrupt a journalist as they highlighted the fact United have taken four points from nine against Hull, Ipswich and Everton.
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That Carrick interjected would suggest his quip betrayed his own true feelings. He cannot believe United have started the campaign well.
When the fixture list was published, Hull, Ipswich and Everton were all borderline gimmes. Beyond the two promoted teams, Everton went into the game amid simmering tension between their owners and supporters after a shambolic deadline day.
David Moyes barely has the manpower for a full squad. Everton were in such disarray they tried to sign Joshua Zirkzee.
And yet Everton were still more attack-minded than United. They had the best chance of the first half and recorded twice as many attempts on target.
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As much of a concern as the results are Carrick’s press conferences. Sir Alex Ferguson said he used to play two games a week: a match and a press conference. It is unlikely Carrick is of the same opinion.
Carrick will never utter a quote that is a marmalade dropper and he rarely gives a straight answer.
Nobody is knocking his personality. Carrick is as authentic as he was as a player and part of the appeal to the United power brokers is he is the polar opposite to Ruben Amorim. Especially when dictaphones are placed in front of him.
Carrick’s rhetoric was not an issue when United won 12 from 17 games and lost two last season. There was always a sense that he would have to change tact if or when United hit the skids and he hasn’t.
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On Friday, Carrick was given an easy win: will United strengthen their defence next summer?
“It’s not always as simple as that,” Carrick replied.
Supporters do not want to hear that, never mind journalists. Such compliance evokes memories of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
United have been here before. In 2018, an abrasive Portuguese manager turned on the hierarchy and was jettisoned in favour of a club great who was beside himself to have been given the job.
Toeing the line did not get Solskjaer very far. His tenure ended trophyless.
Carrick is close with Solskjaer. They were teammates, coached together for nearly three years and were up against each other for the job in January.
With 23 years of playing experience at United between them, they share the same worldview. That does not necessarily correspond to a successful United side in this era.
The angriest Solskjaer ever reacted in a press conference was when reminded of Robin van Persie’s comments about him smiling in defeat to Arsenal in January 2020.
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Carrick is slightly different. He took umbrage at the suggestion that Middlesbrough supporters would be surprised by his record at United last season: “We did win a few games.”
This season, there was mild annoyance at Jan Aage Fjortoft’s assertion that United lacked “passion” in the opening weekend defeat at Hull. Carrick then took exception to a journalist’s description of a “passive” performance.
United are too passive. They only forced the issue at Everton after half-time and after Everton equalised. So they were spurred into action. That has to change.
So do Carrick’s press conferences. He has said in successive weeks he “didn’t say” things nobody claimed he had said.
It was Carrick who remarked, “The situation is what it is in terms of finances and what we can do.” When the topic returned to United’s finances in relation to the transfer window, Carrick stressed he did not say “restrictions”. That was a guarded response from a guarded personality.
Carrick has got to look after himself at times. United wanted a defender – a left back – in the summer and did not get one. That is not his fault.
The state of United’s defence is mostly on the current regime. They bought Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Ayden Heaven before agreeing a new contract with Harry Maguire. Noussair Mazraoui was also signed on Ineos’s watch.
Nobody is expecting Carrick to cut loose and question his paymasters. But by volunteering the opinion that United have not had a “bad start”, he is putting himself in the firing line.
Solskjaer refused to deflect attention onto others. Paul Pogba and his late agent Mino Raiola undermined him relentlessly and were probably emboldened by Solskjaer branding Pogba a “heart of gold”.
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United players felt Solskjaer was a soft touch. Long after Solskjaer had gone, he admitted the dressing room was teeming with “snowflakes”.
There were glimpses of Carrick becoming a more assertive talker at the training camp in Ireland last month. He said “push” or “pushing” eight times in reference to the need for more signings.
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Carrick had essentially done no media for three months and there were unanswered questions. It was the best he has spoken since he took over on January 13 and the more relaxed setting at Carton House helped, even with the presence of the Amazon cameras.
He has since regressed and so have United. It has been a bad start.