Michael Carrick brushed aside comparisons with Sir Alex Ferguson and claimed it was important to “live in the present” as he tries to revive Manchester United’s season
On the 40th anniversary of Ferguson’s appointment, Carrick recalled the difficult start to the Scot’s time at Old Trafford before he achieved extraordinary success guiding United to 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns.
Ferguson was on the brink of the sack in 1990 only for Nottingham Forest to win the FA Cup thanks to a goal from Mark Robins to save it and from there the rest is history.
Carrick went into Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Roma in the same peril and found himself on the precipice with his side 2-0 down at half-time. However, a second-half comeback that resulted in a 3-2 victory has changed the mood ahead of Sunday’s clash with Aston Villa.
Asked by Ferguson today, Carrick said: “More comparisons. You always find something to compare! It’s up to us to push it forward. It was a fantastic night (against Roma).
“It was a unique night. We scored some goals from nowhere. I thought we played very well and deserved to win the game. Nothing is done yet. Nothing is achieved yet. It’s a moment in time that we have to take advantage of to move forward. We need more, for sure.”
Football has changed, says Carrick, when asked about United’s patience with Fergie
Carrick is not convinced he would have the same time today as Ferguson did in 1990.
He added: “The game has certainly changed. It’s evolved. It changes, and we’ve got to deal with what’s in front of us. The comparison, I get that and I understand that. We’ve got to live in the present. We’re all desperate to win football games and win them as fast as we can.”
United are off to their worst start to a league season since 1986/87a run which, ironically, resulted in the sacking of Ron Atkinson and Ferguson.
Carrick is confident, however, that his team, which is somewhere outside the relegation zone. they are moving in the right direction.
“When you look at (Roma’s) game, in the first half it wasn’t that bad. There were times when we fell short,” he said.
“It’s the moments we have to clean up. Little moments here and there that have changed our games, which is football, something we have to manage – the first half against Chelsea was very good.
“I think we’re showing signs of improvement in that regard. We need to push this forward.”
United midfielder Baleba was sidelined for several weeks
There has been mixed news on the injury front, with summer signing Carlos Baleba expected to miss several weeks, but left-back Patrick Dorgu is close to returning.
Carrick said of the Cameroonian midfielder: “Carlos, we don’t know exactly but it’s going to be a few weeks. It’s not going to happen anytime soon after the international break. It’s going to be a bit longer.
“Patrick has had some training this week. Very, very little. We have to be patient with Pat.
“He’s had a good spell now, a couple of hamstrings that we’ve got to manage and be patient with that over the next few weeks.
“He’s slowly coming back with us, so we’ll have to see if he can be involved with us at the weekend or not.”
United’s game with Villa kicks off at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon.
