Carrick takes blame for Man Utd cup loss, calls for quick recovery

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has accepted blame for his team’s Carabao Cup exit. They let a two-goal lead slip away to lose 3-2 to Brighton at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

United started strong. Shea Lacey and Mason Mount scored to put them 2-0 up within the first 10 minutes. But Brighton fought back with goals from Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross, and Maxim De Cuyper to reach the fourth round.

This loss follows a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League. It adds to a tough time for Carrick’s team.

After the match, Carrick took responsibility for the loss. He said United needs to respond quickly, with their next game against Fulham coming up on Sunday.

“The team’s on me. When we win, people say I’m doing a good job. If we don’t win or don’t get results, then a lot of it is on me. I accept that. I’m not hiding away from any of that. That is what it is,” Carrick said.

When asked how the game changed after such a strong start, Carrick recognized the big difference between the beginning and the end of the match.

“Yeah. It’s a good question, to be honest with you. I think the way we started the game, 20 or 25 minutes into the game, we were in such a good position, playing well and doing all the things we wanted to do. It feels like a long time ago now,” the former England international said.

“The feeling at the start of the game and the feeling at the end couldn’t have been further apart. We have to accept that the game can’t go in that direction from where we were,” Carrick added.

On whether he felt his players had enough strength to bounce back from these recent setbacks, Carrick said several disappointments had built up to create a larger sense of frustration.

“Yeah. I mean, a couple of smaller things ended up accumulating into something bigger. I understand why you’re asking the question. If you go from the Everton last-minute goal to the City goal, it creates a bit of a feeling. Then there’s the game today,” Carrick explained.

“We fully accept it. I’ve told them to take responsibility. We can’t put ourselves in that position after being ahead in the game and have it finish like it did,” he said.

“A couple of things have gone against us, and all of a sudden it becomes a greater thing from nowhere, really. We’ve got to react to it. We’ve got another game on Sunday, and that’s the crucial thing now,” the coach noted.

“It’s happened quickly tonight, and over a period of two or three weeks there has been a lot of frustration and disappointment around. We need to flip that and start winning games again,” Carrick added.

The United boss dismissed claims that he had been let down by his players when asked if he felt “sold short” by them.

“No. The team’s on me. When we win, people say I’m doing a good job. If we don’t win or don’t get results, then a lot of it is on me. I accept that. I’m not hiding away from any of that. That is what it is,” Carrick said.

When asked if he felt confident that his players could turn things around, Carrick backed his squad.

“Yeah, of course we can turn it around. We’ve got some really good players. It feels bad at the moment because we haven’t had a great week, or two or three weeks, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win another game of football quickly,” the former Manchester United player said.

“The players have shown before what they’re capable of doing, and we have as a group. It doesn’t count for much; it’s always about what happens next,” Carrick explained.

“That’s the ultimate challenge. It always has been here and always will be. It’s about dealing with the moments, the ups and the downs. We’ve certainly got to deal with this moment in a good way,” the coach added.

Carrick was also asked how he would prevent United from going into what was described as a “negative spiral,” especially after experiencing similar tough times at the club in recent years.

The former United midfielder brushed off worries about outside pressure and said his focus is on winning matches.

“No pressure anyway. Either way, that doesn’t bother me one bit. I understand what goes on outside and how the world works, but it genuinely doesn’t bother me,” Carrick said.

“What bothers me is winning games, having a good feeling around the place and knowing we’re moving in a good direction. If we’re on a good run, the biggest thing I’m thinking about is keeping it going and keeping everything on an even level,” he explained.

“If we’re not on a good run, then we’ve got to get back to being on a good run. That’s as simple as it gets. We’ve got to win football matches, and I fully believe we will,” the coach noted.

“Obviously, we’ve got to do it pretty quickly, and Sunday is a starting point,” Carrick added.

When asked if he needed to protect his players from the negativity surrounding the team, especially after fans showed their frustration at the final whistle, Carrick said the players must learn to deal with such situations.

“I think we know it’s there, whether it’s good or not good. It’s pretty obvious. We’ve all got feelings, but how you deal with that is the important thing,” the United manager said.

“Being here toughens you up over time. You’ve got to deal with it in a way where you can cope with it and bring out the best in yourself,” Carrick explained.

“As a whole group, we know we can win football matches, and that’s what we are here to do. A couple of little things have gone one way, and we’ve gone out of the cup tonight,” he said.

“The feeling around the place feels bigger than that, but it doesn’t have to be like that. If we win football matches again, it can go in a different direction,” the former England international added.

Carrick was asked what he could have done differently as a coach, but he felt there was no need to analyze the defeat right now.

“I thought we were doing a lot of the good things that we wanted to do early in the game and put ourselves in a great position. We just let it slip by not doing certain things. I don’t think now is the time to dissect that,” Carrick said.

He also shared his disappointment that Lacey’s great moment had been overshadowed by the loss.

“It’s a shame that Shea’s moment, such a great moment for him, his family, his friends and the whole academy, gets a bit lost. It won’t for him when things settle down, but as we sit here now, it feels like it was a long time ago,” the coach said.

When asked if the recent results showed a deeper problem or just fine margins, especially after the late Everton goal and the loss to City, Carrick insisted that small details had affected United’s results.

“It always is fine margins. Even when we were winning, sometimes we won without playing particularly well. We found a way to win,” the United boss said.

“Some of the games we’ve played this year, we’ve played better and haven’t had the results. I’ve said that before, but results are what you’re judged on,” Carrick explained.

“I understand people judge that, not all the details of the performance. That is probably what I’ll look at,” the former United player added.

United will now focus on Fulham, with Carrick seeing Sunday’s Premier League match as the first chance to respond to this defeat and change the mood around the club.