Michael Carrick has dismissed the idea that his position as Manchester United head coach is under threat, describing it as “ridiculous” to think about his future after “two or three” bad results. Speaking to the media before his side’s trip to Fulham on Sunday, he gave short shrift to the noise surrounding his job.
United’s week has been a bruising one. They lost at home to a Manchester City side that had been reduced to 10 men after 23 minutes, and then went out of the Carabao Cup to Brighton, who became the first team in 50 years to come from two goals down and win at Old Trafford. Supporters responded to the midweek setback with boos and by chanting against their own team. Carrick, who has won 14 of his 23 games since taking charge in January 2026, had already said in the aftermath of that defeat that he was “not bothered” by the pressure, and he reinforced that message.
“I know the club, I know the role, I know what’s expected here in terms of playing to a certain standard and achieving certain things on the pitch,” he said. “In terms of future and ownership and how long I’ve got in the job, that’s totally not in my thinking. It’s ridiculous to think that way in the position I’m in, that’s just not on the radar. It’s two or three games. It’s two or three games too many because I really hate losing, but that doesn’t mean the world caves in. In some minds it does, it can’t for us.”
There has been no sense from senior figures inside United that Carrick’s position is under threat. Their focus is instead on what they regard as the underperformance of so many players, given the 12 games out of 17 that were won under the 45-year-old over the second half of last season. This season the picture is far leaner: two victories from six games, against newly promoted Ipswich – when United had to come from behind – and Azerbaijan champions Sabah FK in the Champions League.
“It’s not a catastrophe or a disaster,” Carrick said. “It’s not the end of the world.” Yet it is the measure of the noise around a club of United’s size that it often feels that way, and Carrick accepts that issues at Old Trafford are frequently amplified so that they appear bigger than they are. Even so, he is adamant he wants to be nowhere else. “There’s great feelings, and there’s obviously disappointments, and sometimes the smaller disappointments lead to being a little bit bigger,” he added. “It’s just part of coping and being at this great football club. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, genuinely. It’s the best place for me to be, in part because of the times when it’s maybe not going to plan. Sometimes they are best times to work your way through, to find out a few things and come out an awful lot stronger.”
Externally, the inquests have tended to focus on recruitment – or the lack of it, specifically at left-back – United’s finances and debt levels, Carrick’s relative inexperience and, other than assistant boss Steve Holland, that of his coaching staff. Carrick refused to point the finger. “It’s not a blame game,” he said. “We all search for things to look at and point at, or whatever reason it may be and find a blame. Blame me. No problem. I will take the responsibility. But it’s not about blaming people. It’s about us, it’s about us finding solutions and being better. That’s as a whole football club.” He also revealed that Luke Shaw and new signing Carlos Baleba “have a chance” of being fit for the Craven Cottage meeting.