Michael Carrick rejects claims of a 'toxic culture' at Manchester United, praising togetherness
Michael Carrick has refuted claims of a toxic culture at Manchester United and insists the group are giving ‘everything’ to turn results around.
Manchester United have endured a difficult start to the new season and have taken just seven points from sevenPremier League games.
Clean sheets have also been an issue, with only one shut-out in 10 games across all competitions, against Azerbaijani outfit Sabah in theChampions League.
United return to European action against Como this evening, amid the backdrop of noise from former manager Erik ten Hag. In a wide-ranging interview withThe Athletic this week, Ten Hag discussed his time at Old Trafford, frustrations, and a challenging culture.
The Dutchman claimed the board helped fuel a ‘toxic culture’ after not backing him over disciplinary matters involving Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.
“And so, they are continuing the toxic culture; they fuel it, they give the power to the players,” Ten Hag said.
“Rashford is an amazing player, if his mindset is right. I always showed my trust in him, played him. But when you show these standards, sometimes you have to make corrections.”
Another of the club’s former managers, Ruben Amorim, has madesimilar comments, but Carrick has insisted he has seen no signs of such since his appointment, despite a recent decline in results.
Speaking at hispress conference ahead of facing Como in the Champions League tonight, he said: “No, I haven’t. Since I came back the players, the staff, they’ve given us everything that they could give. Yeah, we’ve had some good performances. We’ve had some performances that we want to do better, that we can improve on.
“We’ve made some mistakes. That’s football and that’s pushing performance. But, I have to say, and I’ll kind of repeat what I said the other day, you know, if you haven’t got a good group, the type of performance – I’m not talking about the level – but the type of performance that the boys put into the weekend and, showed in Atletico for large parts, I think, and what the feeling that we have, there’s a lot of togetherness there.
“There’s a lot of will, there’s a lot of determination to do better and want to do it for each other, which is important. So, in that regard as the group, I couldn’t be happier with the togetherness, for sure.”
