Interim coach says his team have a foundation to build on ahead of Arsenal game
Michael Carrick has called on his Manchester United team to keep up the performance levels they showed against Manchester City in the derby on Saturday.
United put in a disciplined performance that saw them keep the game in complete control despite less than 40 per cent possession, emerging 2-0 winners at Old Trafford.
“I think it needs to be a version of normal,” Carrick said about the performance. “Certainly we’re not going to have games with the emotion and the feeling of everything that today brought.
“I think we all understand that, but there’s definitely levels of standards and expectations that we need to live up to from ourselves as much as anyone on the outside. I’m fairly aware of that.
“Consistency is the key to any success, and if you can find that then you’re on to a winner. So that’s our challenge, we’ve got to find a way of doing that.”
The new interim coach had only three days after his appointment to prepare the squad for a high-profile game against a City side trying to chase down league leaders Arsenal. Carrick said he was pleased with how the team followed instructions and prepared for the game.
“Emotionally, where the boys were, I was quite happy with that leading into the game, but then City are an unbelievable team with talent and they can rotate and change things,” Carrick said.
“You never really know how the game is going to go, but for it to pan out like that, the boys were fantastic in so many ways.
“And to manage it emotionally with the information we’ve given them and pulling it together, yeah, it was pretty good.”
Next up is another difficult game against Arsenal next Sunday. United need another positive result if they are to maintain momentum as the battle for the Champions League places heats up.
Carrick said: “It’s a big one next week obviously, another tough one, but on the back of today we’ve got a good foundation to build on.”
