Jamie Carragher has urged Manchester United to stick by Michael Carrick despite their poor start to the season.
He insists that Carrick should be allowed the full campaign to restore ‘calm’ to the club before potentially ‘passing the baton’ to somebody else.
United have made their joint-worst start to a Premier League season ever with a mere five points from their opening five games, and some concerning performances thrown in.
Gary Neville raised the alarm over what he saw as their ‘disgraceful’ lack of effort in their 1-1 draw with Fulham at the weekend, but pointed the finger at the players more than his former team-mate.
Now Carragher has thrown his weight behind Carrick, telling The Overlap Fan Debate: ‘I think it would be ludicrous to get rid of Michael Carrick.
‘I don’t see Michael Carrick as the Manchester United manager in the long term. I almost feel like he’s in there doing a job for the club to get them through a rocky period and then passing the baton on.
Jamie Carragher says Manchester United should stick by Michael Carrick despite a tough spell
Manchester United have made their joint-worst start to a Premier League season
‘If that sounds disrespectful to him, I don’t mean it like that. He came in, and Manchester United needed calm, they needed not being a circus, not being a banter club.
‘His results have been unbelievable since he’s come into the job over the long period. He got the job on the back of that. The fact he got them in the Champions League brings the money.
‘Manchester United need to be a Champions League club again. It’s not about, wow, we’re going to win the league this year. They need another season of just making sure you get the Champions League, and then it’d be a case of bringing in one of the top managers about who could manage a club at that level.
‘I don’t think the idea of changing Michael Carrick now or at the next international break makes sense. It just needs to be relaxed, just let him get on with it.’
Despite a disappointing start to the season, with United 12th in the Premier League, Carrick’s overall record with the club is quite strong.
He has won 14 of his 24 matches in charge, drawing and losing five each, and last term guided them to third in the table after taking over from the disastrous Ruben Amorim.
They recently endured a nightmarish seven-day period with three blows: first a defeat to Manchester City in the derby, then a loss to Brighton after throwing away a two-goal lead in the Carabao Cup, then the draw at Fulham where they lacked cutting edge.
Matheus Cunha was only able to score in that game thanks to a wicked deflection off David Affengruber, but they did have 25 shots, which suggests they can be creative.
The club has picked up just five points in five games, with some disappointing performances
Neville found the performance abysmal, telling Sky Sports: ‘I rarely say teams don’t make an effort because that’s the ultimate criticism. That first 15 minutes of the second half, and generally the first 60 minutes, United were an absolute disgrace.
‘I’ve watched Man United since the age of five and that’s the worst 15 minutes I’ve ever seen. Absolutely pathetic. I’ve never seen such a lack of effort.
‘There needs to be a reset in terms of structure. They don’t want to do the ugly part of the game.
‘I’ve never seen a Manchester United team walk as much as that. Michael (Carrick) needs to stop defending them.
‘If they carry on like that, they will concede so many goals week after week. They were lucky to concede one.
‘I just see apathy and ambling around the pitch. They can all work harder than that- they’re getting outrun in every match.’
After Cunha scored a late equaliser – heavily deflected off David Affengruber – to cancel out a disastrous own-goal by team-mate Lisandro Martinez, the forward admitted that United only woke up once Fulham went ahead.
‘In the second half it was like they put in more energy than us,’ he said. ‘We cannot accept this. We always play better after conceding a goal, and it cannot be like this.’
