Carrick admits Manchester United have lost their way but vows to turn it around

Michael Carrick did not wait for the first question. Before Manchester United's home game against Bournemouth on Sunday 25 October, the head coach opened his Friday news conference at Carrington with a statement that ran for almost 6 minutes, admitting his side have "lost our way" and insisting he is the man to find it again.

The backdrop is grim. United are winless in 7 games in all competitions, their longest such run since 2015, according to Sky Sports. Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como was the low point, and AFP reports that United sit 13th after their worst start of the Premier League era.

Their only 2 wins in 11 matches this season came against newly promoted Ipswich and Azerbaijani side Sabah, AFP adds. They have also gone out of the League Cup to Brighton and lost 2 of their 3 Champions League games. In Como, Nico Paz scored twice and set up another, with substitute Joshua Zirkzee's late goal the only reply, according to The Independent.

"We will win football matches"

Carrick called the Como performance "really unacceptable" and spoke at length about the club's values. "It comes down to humility, it comes down to being humble, it comes down to being hard-working," he said, as reported by The Independent.

He invoked Sir Alex Ferguson, Ryan Giggs, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Bobby Charlton, and reminded the room that Manchester United are "always bigger than any single individual. Bigger than me, bigger than any of the players."

"We've kind of lost our way a little bit if I'm totally honest and we'll get it back," he said. "I'm totally confident we'll get it back."

Carrick also confirmed he had spoken to the club's hierarchy after Como. "I will hold that umbrella for me to get wet and everyone else to stay dry," he said. "It feels like it can be a long way away but it doesn't take too much to flip the other way. We will win football matches."

The Fernandes question

The questions that followed were dominated by Bruno Fernandes. After Como, the captain questioned how passive United had been. "Conceding early makes us go into the game with a mood of defeat," he said, as quoted by the Daily Mail and IOL. "Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable."

Asked repeatedly whether Fernandes would keep the armband or even his place, Carrick gave nothing away. "The most important thing for me is the team and the dynamics in the squad," he said. "Whatever the situation is, I will always do what is best for the football club." He also declined to say whether he had spoken to the Portuguese.

Put to him that the dressing room felt divided, he was firmer. "It's not divided. We just need to get back to doing what we do best. And we will."

The Fernandes episode came just over a week after Lisandro Martínez criticised the board over a lack of transfer investment, AFP notes. AFP adds that Brighton's Fabian Hürzeler and Antonio Conte have both played down speculation linking them with the job, with Eddie Howe also named among the possible candidates. Hürzeler's Brighton have scored 23 goals in 7 league games and sit third.

Bournemouth arrive in form

Carrick will also be short of bodies. The Manchester Evening News lists Benjamin Šeško, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu and Manuel Ugarte among the absentees, with Martínez, Marcus Rashford and Ayden Heaven the doubts.

The league table offers some comfort. Bournemouth have also won just 1 of their 7 league games and sit a point and two places below United, the MEN points out. But Marco Rose's side travel north on the back of a 3-0 Europa League win over AC Milan on Thursday.

Rose, speaking to the BBC, confirmed that last season's top scorer Junior Kroupi should get his first minutes of the campaign after a foot injury. He expects a wounded opponent. "I think they're going to be angry, they're going to be intense," Rose said. "We have to face it, make an open game of it and, at the end, we want to win it."

"Everyone in Manchester seems to know now what to do and how to do it," Rose added of the noise around the club, with a Carabao Cup tie to come on Wednesday giving him room to rotate.

Kick-off at Old Trafford is at 14:00 UK time on Sunday. Carrick, appointed permanently only 5 months ago after a successful interim spell that took United back into the Champions League with a third-place finish, has asked for respect for the club. A response on the pitch would be the best way to earn it.