Carrick committed to bring United back to its best

Watch FULL MATCH REPLAYS & more via MUTV 24/7 on beIN SPORTS | Sign up TODAY!! | AU | NZ

Carrick took over at United in January and enjoyed a successful caretaker spell, leading the club back to the UEFA Champions League, and was made the permanent boss back in May.

However, it has been a dismal start to 2026-2027 for United, which has won just two games in all competitions, with their most recent victory coming on 11 September (AEDT) against Sabah in UEFA's premier competition.

United has won just one of its seven Premier League matches this season, and is winless in its past seven matches in all competitions heading into a Premier League clash with Bournemouth on Monday (AEDT).

It is its worst such streak since a run of eight matches without victory between November and December 2015.

But Carrick, who is coming under increasing pressure with reports suggesting the club's hierarchy are starting to look at potential replacements, was not shying away from his side's poor form.

"I think recently we haven't had a good time; I think that's pretty obvious," he said.

"I totally accept that. What we're going through at the moment. We had five months of relative success in a spell where I was happy with a lot of things that I was seeing and that we were doing as a team.

"We haven't done well enough lately, I think that's pretty obvious to say, and we've had a spell that we're really not happy with.

"Wednesday was a bad night; it was a bad night for a lot of reasons, and it was a bad night that hurt a lot. It hurt me to see us play that way, to see how the game panned out.

"As I said, after the game it was really unacceptable for us to play like that and to be like that.

"My responsibility is to get a team on a pitch that represents this football club, represents the supporters, and they can be proud of it with the identity that we show.

"We have gone away from that just recently in certain games, which I'm totally, fully aware of and definitely doing something about. I think it's important that we all recognise that; I certainly recognise it.

"Our supporters are of the utmost importance to me and this football club, and for them to feel like they felt for five months at the start of the year, for us to have that about us and that connection and that real vigour and intensity and enjoyment and passion that we all felt through that period was something that we need to get back to, and we will get back to it.

"I fully believe that, but I think it's important that we recognise that we haven't been doing that.

"I said it after the [Como] game, Manchester United is always bigger and always has been, always will be bigger than any single individual. Bigger than me, bigger than any of the players, and it always has been.

"It was based on being humble, having humility and hard work, and we can never lose that, and I won't let us lose that. We've had it for a spell; I feel very strongly about that."

Things do not get any easier for United, with Bournemouth next up – the Red Devils are winless in their past six against the Cherries.

United then faces Chelsea, Aston Villa, rival Liverpool and high-flying Brentford in its next four Premier League games.

"I think it inspires me a lot to live up to that and keep driving that with the players and the group that we've shown for a good period of time and that we're capable of it," Carrick continued.

"We're in a moment where it's not gone well, so we need to show exactly what it means. Respect this football club, respect what it takes to be here, respect what it takes to win, what you have to do to win. I'm not entitled to be here; entitlement cannot be at this football club. We're not entitled to win.

"We've won in the past, we've got an incredible history, but that doesn't mean that you're entitled to just win. I'm fully aware of that; it takes hard work; it takes a lot of sacrifice.

"You've got to invest yourself in the football club, and you've got to do a lot of things that maybe aren't so nice, but you've got to do it for each other, and you've got to win.

"I think it's important we live up to that, and it's important for me to push those values, and it's important for our supporters to feel that. Moving forward, we've had it; we've kind of lost our way a little bit, if I'm totally honest, and we'll get it back. I'm totally confident we'll get it back.

"Respect this football club, respect what it takes because it's very, very important to me."

Another talking point after the Como defeat was captain Bruno Fernandes's comments, where he appeared to criticise Carrick's tactics when it came to applying pressure on Como.

It follows Lisandro Martinez's criticism of the United hierarchy and technical director Jason Wilcox.

Fernandes is not set to be stripped of the captaincy after, with Carrick determined to move on from both incidents.

"We need to move forward in the right direction, and we need to do things to enable us to do that," he said.

When pressed if he would strip Fernandes of the captaincy, he said: "The most important thing for me is the team and the dynamics in the squad. It is about the football club.

"Whatever the situation is, I will always do what is best for the football club."