It’s been another eventful week at Manchester United.
Being in Como and seeing the club lurches towards another disappointing resultadding to an increasingly dismal start to the season, was about half the events that took place this week.
What also grabbed the headlines was a senior player, for the second week in a row, giving incredible post-match interviews that questioned – not the hierarchy and ambition of the club as Lisandro Martinez’s interview did – but the tactics of the coach and his staff in this case captain Bruno Fernandes.
The games, the performances, the interviews… you’d have to think it all contributed to Michael Carrick delivering a stunning five-minute monologue at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
Within the emotional speech, there were clear messages for the dressing room. Humility. Humility. Perhaps the qualities that Carrick feels he hasn’t seen enough of within Carrington’s walls.
So as I sat down with United’s No.1 goalkeeper Senne Lammens, there was only one place to start – is this dressing room united?
“For me personally, I think it is,” Lammens said.
“I think it’s easy to see maybe after a game when the players are very frustrated, and I understand, I’m very frustrated too because we all want to do better and we all want to win and then we can sometimes say things that we don’t really mean or fully explain what we mean.
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Michael Carrick delivers a defiant speech after a run of games without a win ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
“Of course, people at home can’t see that, so we also have to try to look like that when we’re on the pitch at the weekend, but I can assure you we’re doing everything we can and we’re all together behind the coach, as staff, players, front office.
“Everyone knows, of course, they have to do better, but I think we are united and we are trying to improve as a team and together.”
Once again against Como, United started badly – conceding in the opening minutes of the game and this is one of their dangers of this season so far.
Sunday, October 25, 12:30 p.m
Departure at 14:00
Happened 60 seconds ago vs Atletico Madrid a week ago and they also started poorly against Fulham and Spurs either side of the international break.
There may be different factors, the quality of the opponents at play here, but you also can’t get over the fact that United have only kept one clean sheet this season and that came against Sabah on September 10 in the Champions League.
“It’s tough,” Lammens said.
“We have to learn from it quickly as well, because you can try to come up with plans and tactics, but if you score a goal in the first or second minute, it kind of breaks your game plan a bit and you’re chasing the game from then on.
“That’s probably one of the biggest things we have to work on now is to keep ourselves in the game and try to get the first goal ourselves instead of going 1-0 down straight away.
“I make people think it’s an easy fix, or like, why don’t you try harder or something?
“Trust me, we’re trying harder every day and trying to find a solution, but sometimes when things aren’t going our way, everything falls into place for the other team.
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Sky Sports’ Paul Merson reflects on Manchester United’s poor form but believes Michael Carrick should stay on as United manager following their heavy 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League.
“You just need one performance to turn it around, and I think that’s what we’re trying to aim for and what we’re working really hard on right now.
“As you mentioned, it’s very easy to have narratives or stories and headlines and something that’s aimed at the team as well.”
Tactics and narratives?
Lammens is right, there have been plenty of narratives thrown around Carrick all season, but after Wednesday’s defeat it’s hard to argue against many of them – especially when you consider the team are in their worst form since 2014-15, going seven games without a win in all competitions.
Carrick is the first to defend his side despite some poor performances this season, but there was no shying away from the defeat in Como. He admitted that his team was lacking in so many areas that others have observed from his team this season, including aggression, intensity and running.
However, these are three aspects that Carrick’s side absolutely had last season in his first five months in charge, which were key in wins against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.
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Sky Sports’ Danyal Khan provides an overview of three things we learned from Manchester United’s embarrassing Champions League defeat in Como.
While there is no doubt that Carrick and his staff have tried to adapt their style of play this season compared to last, there is still such confusion as to why the team have looked second best in most of their games this season so tactically, what has changed?
Lammens said: “Last season I felt like, playing, maybe we played better this season, but last season everything just clicked and went the right way for us.
“We fought as a team together when they pressed us, but we didn’t concede that many goals, and then I think as a team last season we did really well, but you also know, I think everyone knew that we had to improve from that as well, that teams would change the way they played against us.
“So that’s why we had to evolve this season and in the pre-season, we tried to do some different things to put us in the best position to win games.
“I think we need a little bit more like last season, the way we fought together, even when it wasn’t going the best and we just tried to fight as a team and defend as a team, I think that’s probably something we should try to get back.”
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Manchester United manager Michael Carrick admitted his side’s performance was ‘unacceptable’ in their 4-1 defeat at Como in the Champions League.
I admired Lammens for his openness and willingness to explain his dressing room perspective as it is so rare that players feel comfortable enough in the type of situation United are in to do so.
He continued when we reflected a little more on last season and he mentioned the word “fight” – a quality the team showed for most of last season to deliver Champions League football that needs to get back to.
A basic measurement the fans at Old Trafford have probably rarely seen this season, so again, a simple question – where has it been?
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Leeds and Manchester United.
“I get it, I see people talking about numbers and maybe stats and data, I’m not sure about that because every game is a little bit different,” Lammens said.
“I think, like I said, with the ball we try to do different things, we try to improve, because last season we weren’t always the best with the ball. I think we’ve improved on those kinds of things, but maybe the mentality of having the ball and playing around has that mentality when you don’t have the ball and we try to fight for it like we did last season.
“We’ve got to get a little bit of both. It’s a fine line, to be honest, that aggressiveness. When you don’t have the ball and when you have the ball, you want that composure, to be able to play from the back and to be able to play through the press. I think it’s just finding that fine line in us.”
It has been a difficult few days for those connected to United, but in a week where senior players have perhaps piled more pressure on those within it, I have to admit I came away from my chat with Lammens with at least the hope that they have an emerging leader in the dressing room who is clearly finding his voice.
Watch Man Utd vs Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event; departure time 14:00