United manager Michael Carrick dropped some quotes ahead of the new season which sort of begins tomorrow as the Head Coach and players return for pre-season!
Yes, pre-season starts tomorrow!
Fuck me, that was quick 😳.
As the first part of what is to be a HUGE 26/27 campaign for United and Carrick, the boss came out with some interesting words that's gotten a lot of people talking.
Here is the quote in full via FrankEra_:
"I want to start by thanking you from the bottom of my heart for your incredible support throughout last season.
As a club, we moved forward together, and you played an essential role in enabling the team to finish third in the Premier League and qualify for the Champions League.
Having been a player, coach, supporter, season ticket holder, and now head coach of Manchester United, I am fully aware of your importance to our club. It is a true privilege to have benefited from your support since I first arrived at this club 20 years ago.
In the first few days after my return to the club, the technical staff and I spoke with the players about the immense privilege we all have in representing Manchester United, which means so much to so many people, and the importance of rising to the challenge of playing for our club.
The players embraced that responsibility and much more, we can truly be proud of the progress the group has made in recent months.
Whether you are a player, staff member, or supporter, we saw, in the first two matches after my return against Manchester City and Arsenal, that unique buzz that we always seek here. But I think what pleased me the most was the way we managed to build on those early successes and continue to progress.
We showed quality, consistency, and proved that we could win in different ways. We delivered superb attacking performances against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and Aston Villa, but we also secured victories through sheer grit, as at Everton and Chelsea.
Even after securing our qualification for the Champions League, we didn't lose our momentum or focus. In our last two matches, you could see that determination was still there in everyone. That's exactly what we need to move forward as we approach next season.
Of course, I know that not everything can always go smoothly, because the demands are very high. Those demands are necessary for a club of this stature. That's why succeeding here is so rewarding. And if we show unity while embodying the values we want to see in our performances, then we'll always have excellent chances of success.
We know we must continue to improve. We have a huge responsibility: to win and to play exciting football. That will never change, and we must always fight for the biggest trophies. There are steps to take, but we are well positioned to achieve them.
We have a fantastic group of players, and we are convinced they have the talent, commitment, and determination needed to succeed here.
They love being part of this club, and we see how much they want it. That gives us the confidence to know that we are truly building something and moving in the right direction.
We know we have what it takes to beat the best teams in this league. Now it's about doing it over a full Premier League season, while fighting for every trophy within reach.
I look forward to leading this group forward next season and seeing those exceptional European nights return to Old Trafford.
We are ready to step it up and deliver even more of those great moments that are the very essence of United."
Quite a lot indeed.
And some of it is the standard 'we achieved this together', 'looking forward to playing in the Champions League', 'having a unique buzz after beating City and Arsenal.'
All of this great and true.
But the part that stood out to me the most was when he said: "We have a fantastic group of players, and we are convinced they have the talent, commitment, and determination needed to succeed here.
They love being part of this club, and we see how much they want it. That gives us the confidence to know that we are truly building something and moving in the right direction."
Carrick might just be saying this for the public.
But he might also genuinely believe it.
Depending on which side he sits on, it could change everything for next season.
Do we have a 'fantastic' group of players? Do we really?
'Convinced' that these players have the talent?
If that was the case, we wouldn't be so interested in signing players, would we?
I'm sure that they are committed to achieving success otherwise what the fuck are they doing here?
Saying that he feels that the club is moving in the right direction is also concerning 😬.
If you ask everyone, most of us would say that the squad isn't good enough, that we need both quality and quantity, we don't even have a first team as thunited aree only midfielder we have at the moment is Kobbie Mainoo given Casemiro's exit, Manuel Ugarte's ACL injury and that Ederson isn't official yet. One midfielder.
Most would even question whether we are moving in the right direction considering that we are losing transfer targets to Spurs, a side with no European football next season and were fighting relegation for two seasons straight. Spurs.
This has caused a lot of frustration, impatience and anger in large portions of the fan base as supporters are beginning to get anxious at the lack of business United are doing. This is for a club that David Ornstein said will be the club who will be the busiest of the window.
Again, he might just be saying this for the public but behind the scenes could be worried as well.
He might be saying all this to protect the dressing room but I doubt for one second that Carrick thinks that all is well and that the club is moving in the right direction.
I mean, he too must be thinking 'how are we losing targets to Spurs?'
That's sort of throwing him under the bus because he already had such a difficult task ahead of him add to this the expectations of the club to win the league in the next season or two and a lack of signings (at this stage) and an already difficult job just became even harder.
Or, and this is the scarier one, Carrick does genuinely believe that this squad is good enough and that United are moving forward.
However, what's making me think twice that he's thinking the latter is when he speaks about "We have a huge responsibility: to win and to play exciting football."
Btw, this isn't the first time he said this as well.
At the back end of last season after signing his contract to become permanent boss, the former midfielder said the very same thing:
"Am I optimistic for the new campaign? Yes, big time. Winning and exciting football is what comes to mind."
You can't tell me that an ex-legend of a player who played during the glory days but also featured for parts of the shit era, if you will, towards the end of his career under the likes of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho before hanging up his boots.
Someone who then became an assistant to Mourinho after retiring, did the same job for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when Jose was sacked, took over as interim for a few games when Solskjaer was sent packing, left to become manager of Middlesbrough in the Championship for two-and-a-half years, all before replacing Ruben Amorim for the second half of last season once the Portuguese was also given his marching orders.
Now he is the Head Coach himself.
His time at the club has seen him go through it all and all from different view points.
Carrick's time at United is multi-layered and it's because of that it separates him from everyone else who's been at the club.
You're telling me that someone with all that doesn't know United?
Carrick is also a smart guy especially when you look at how intelligent of a footballer he was.
So he'll definitely know that what he said isn't entirely true.
But what do you think about these quotes? Do you believe that Michael Carrick genuinely believes that this squad is good enough and that the club is moving in the right direction? Or is he just saying it for the public?
Michael Carrick says Man Utd have the 'responsibility to win and play exciting football' in latest interview | Benjamin Sesko, Diogo Dalot and Michael Carrick | Creator: IMAGO/Conor Molloy Copyright: IMAGO/Pro Sports Images via Goal