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Man Utd: Michael Carrick vows to restore Red Devils’ identity after Como thrashing

Under-fire Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has vowed to restore the club’s identity amid a shocking run of form.

Carrick insisted the Red Devils must rediscover the values of hard work, humility and resilience in the wake of Wednesday’s damaging 4-1 defeat to Como – a result that extended what has been a historically poor start to the season.

The former midfielder will look to turn his words into action when United host Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday, with the Cherries sure to provide a stern test.

Carrick admits United lost direction

During his pre-match press conference, United boss Carrick addressed the current state of the club, saying on Sky Sports: “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.

“The supporters are a huge part of this football club. For me, to see the supporters have to make the effort and the time and spend the money to come and support us on Wednesday and have the feeling after the game like we all felt was a tough moment.

“I think that’s pretty obvious.

“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.”

‘Manchester United is always bigger’

Turning his attention to values, Carrick continued: “The foundation of this football club and the values of this football club have been put down and etched for many, many years and I totally understand and I get every single one of them.

“It comes down to humility, it comes down to being humble. It comes down to being hard-working and being really proud to work hard and being proud to live up to their values.

“There’s a resilience about this football club that’s been shown for a long, long time. Whether that’s bouncing back from adversity, whether that’s comebacks, whether that’s late goals, whether that’s success, whether that’s sustaining success, there’s a resilience in this football club that runs very, very deep.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I’ve felt it. I’m aware of some of the individuals and know them closely who have been a big part of that history.

“I said it after the game – Manchester United is always bigger and always has been, always will be bigger than any single individual.”

Renewed commitment to club values

The Englishman concluded his defiant statement by telling reporters: “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.

“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 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.”