On Friday, Michael Carrick delivered a five-and-a-half minute monologue at the start of his weekend press conference.
The Manchester United coach tried to douse some of the flames that had arisen in the past week after the humiliating defeat at Como was followed by criticism of his tactics by club captain Bruno Fernandes.
But the word that stuck out most of all was ‘entitlement’, which Carrick used to warn players that they could not expect to win without doing the hard work.
“We need to respect what it takes to be here, respect what it takes to win, what you have to do to win,” Carrick said. “I’m not entitled to be here. Entitlement cannot be at this football club. We’re not entitled to win. We’ve won in the past, we’ve got an incredible history, but that doesn’t mean you’re entitled to just win.”
This follows his riposte to Fernandes’ criticism in midweek. “Whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play,” Carrick had said, “if you don’t run, and you don’t run forward, and you don’t run back, you ain’t going to win.”
🗣️ Commitment. Resilience. Teamwork.
Michael’s powerful message in full 👇 https://t.co/vWwJt1fW47
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 23, 2026
This brings back earlier comments from Ruben Amorim, whose work was geared in no small part towards turning around the culture at the club. Frustrated in December last year, Amorim criticised the sense of “entitlement” among some United players.
“It is the feeling of entitlement that we have in our club,” he said. “Nowadays they speak and go against the club because they feel entitlement and then we have legends of the club saying: ‘If you don’t play, leave.’
“We have to fight against this feeling. The players sometimes forget what it means to play for Manchester United. The door to my office is open, nobody is coming to talk to me and that is the way we can solve things so I think we need to change as a club.”
Ultimately, it points to a problem of culture that both managers have run into, but it’s also a problem that they, as coaches, have the responsibility of fixing.
Carrick did insist he can still turn the season around and will drop Fernandes if necessary, after the captain’s comments about his tactics.
“I’ll always do what’s best for the football club,” Carrick said. “The most important thing for me is the team, first and foremost – the squad, the dynamics in the squad.”
And then he mentioned his past teammates and the work they put in for the club in their time there. “Ryan Giggs, arguably one of the greatest to play for this club, it was never about Ryan Giggs, it was about Manchester United,” Carrick said.
“Wayne Rooney was top goalscorer of this football club. His biggest thing was playing for the team, sacrificing for the team, and what was good for Manchester United.”
Limbering 🆙🦵
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 20, 2026
Carrick also confirmed that he had spoken to the club’s hierarchy and players about the situation and accepted that the responsibility for improving results rested with him.
“There’s always conversations going on,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious how we’re all feeling. The responsibility for me to be in this position is to lead.
“I’ll hold that umbrella for me to get wet and for everyone else to stay dry. That’s the position I’m in and it’s a privileged position.”
He refused to entertain suggestions of a divided dressing room, with Fernandes in fact the second United player to publicly question decisions at the club in recent weeks, following Lisandro Martinez’s comments about the recruitment.
“It’s not divided,” Carrick said. “We just need to get back to doing what we do best and we will.”
He added that every player had to share the determination to improve the situation. “If you don’t, this is not the place for you.”
