Michael Carrick has met with the media for the first time since being appointed Manchester United’s head coach for the rest of the season.
The former United midfielder's appointment was announced on Tuesday and he is set to take charge of his first match in the role on Saturday, against Manchester City at Old Trafford.
The media briefing at our Carrington training ground was hosted ahead of that fixture, and gave Carrick the opportunity to discuss how his opening few days in the job have gone and his targets for the months ahead.
You can read, and watch, every word from part one of the press conference below, before the second section is released in the United App, on ManUtd.com and MUTV at 22:30 GMT tonight (Friday)…
The media briefing at our Carrington training ground was hosted ahead of that fixture, and gave Carrick the opportunity to discuss how his opening few days in the job have gone and his targets for the months ahead.
You can read, and watch, every word from part one of the press conference below, before the second section is released in the United App, on ManUtd.com and MUTV at 22:30 GMT tonight (Friday)…
How have you found your first few days then as a Manchester United head coach, and how does it feel to be sat in that chair today?
Hi, Michael. What does success look like? Is it Champions League qualification? Is that what success will be?
“Yeah, I think improvement. I think certainly improvement and helping improve individuals. I think a big part of what I really enjoy is improving individuals and, in the end, I think if you improve the individuals, we create a better team. So, certainly working with the players and improving them with that, I think. And, listen, results, that's what it is. There's an element of performance, there's an element of improvement, and there's an element of doing what it takes to win in certain ways, in certain occasions. So, certainly, the higher up the league we finish, we want to keep pushing and finishing as high up as we possibly can, and we'll see where that takes us.”
“Two different roles, sat in this chair in front of you lot is very different to the role in coaching! Yeah, listen, it's fantastic to be here. It's a great feeling for me to be in this position. I think I played different roles for this club and learned to fall in love with the club for so long, and it's a massive part of my life and has been for so long. So, I'm fully aware of the position I'm in, in so many different ways. As well as that, I'm eager to succeed, we've got a big job to do. It's an important job and it always is here, to win games and to play well and to do it in a certain way. So, there's one side of it that's nice to be here, but the other side of it is focus, concentration and a real drive to improve the team and improve the results.”
Hi, Michael. What does success look like? Is it Champions League qualification? Is that what success will be?
“Yeah, I think improvement. I think certainly improvement and helping improve individuals. I think a big part of what I really enjoy is improving individuals and, in the end, I think if you improve the individuals, we create a better team. So, certainly working with the players and improving them with that, I think. And, listen, results, that's what it is. There's an element of performance, there's an element of improvement, and there's an element of doing what it takes to win in certain ways, in certain occasions. So, certainly, the higher up the league we finish, we want to keep pushing and finishing as high up as we possibly can, and we'll see where that takes us.”
Has there been any stated expectations from the leadership team?
I was just wondering on that point of leadership, what conversations have you had with the likes of Jason [Wilcox] and Omar [Berrada], and I understand some of the Glazer family might have been here yesterday with Sir Jim [Ratcliffe], so what have those conversations been like?
“Yeah, I've spoke to Jason an awful lot. I’m working closely with Jason and Omar as well, and over the last few days we've spoken a lot, as you'd imagine. And yeah, the owners, the ownership group were in and around it. It was nice to see them and meet them yesterday and have a small chat with them. They've taken care of business in some ways. We were able to share a few things, so wished us all the very best and it was good to see them.”
“No, not in terms of it has to be this way or that way. I think it's, like I said, we want to be near the top league, we want to be top of the league. I mean, that's pretty obvious to say, but we've got to take some small steps towards that, and European football obviously would be a step forward, and we've got to keep pushing.”
I was just wondering on that point of leadership, what conversations have you had with the likes of Jason [Wilcox] and Omar [Berrada], and I understand some of the Glazer family might have been here yesterday with Sir Jim [Ratcliffe], so what have those conversations been like?
“Yeah, I've spoke to Jason an awful lot. I’m working closely with Jason and Omar as well, and over the last few days we've spoken a lot, as you'd imagine. And yeah, the owners, the ownership group were in and around it. It was nice to see them and meet them yesterday and have a small chat with them. They've taken care of business in some ways. We were able to share a few things, so wished us all the very best and it was good to see them.”
Michael, I was going to mention to you when Ruben Amorim left, one of the things that he said in his last press conference was mentioning about Gary Neville and the players, and clearly Roy Keane has immediately weighed in. I know there's a personal element to that as well, so it's difficult. But in general, how do you feel about knowing that all these famous Manchester United people are going to put more pressure on you?
But that, in particular, is quite personal…
“Honestly, it didn't bother me. It didn't bother me.”
“They're not putting more pressure on me. I don't feel that. I think it's just part of it. The role, I understand it. I understand there's plenty of opinions around and some are positive, some are not so much. But I think in some ways, for me, in terms of you saying about putting pressure on, it's totally relevant in terms of me and how I go to work and what I focus on. I kind of know already what we want to improve on and how we want to work with the players and I've already said about improving things. There's a lot of opinions, a lot can be said. It is the way of the world, I'm not going to pay too much attention to most of that. I think it's not for me to do that. I think for me and the players and the staff, it's a focus on how we're going to succeed really, and that's our job, that's our responsibility, that's what we're focusing on and where our minds should be at, is doing what we can for this club.”
But that, in particular, is quite personal…
“Honestly, it didn't bother me. It didn't bother me.”