MICHAEL Carrick is eager to get his first game as Manchester United’s caretaker manager out of the way.
The former midfielder was appointed to temporarily replace his old teammate and boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday to stem United’s run of poor results.
However, his first assignment is as tough as they come, with the battered Red Devils visiting Villarreal for a crucial UEFA Champions League clash on Tuesday evening.
Even as 40-year-old Carrick, who won the 2008 UEFA Champions League title with United and played in the 2009 and 2011 finals, expressed sadness over Solskjaer’s sacking, he was quick to turn focus to Tuesday.
“First of all, it’s obviously been an emotional day. Yesterday, for myself and everybody at the club,” he began in his first pre-match press conference on Monday.
“I’ve been working with Ole for three years now and known him for an awful lot longer than that and knowing the person that he is, the values that he has and lives by and how he treats people. To see Ole unfortunately lose his job yesterday was tough for me.
“It was tough for a lot of people at the club. You could tell by the emotion that was around the place yesterday and what Ole meant to everyone. We understand and Ole obviously understands. He said it himself, results in this business is everything.”
Carrick added: “As much as you build a foundation and the right culture and treat people the right way, sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve unfortunately.
“I want to say a massive thank you to Ole, especially from me and the staff as well as the players because I’ve learned an awful lot from him. He taught me a lot and it’s been an absolute pleasure working with him. Sad, sad, sad day initially and I wish Ole all the very best.
“On the flip-side, football’s football and business is as usual today. We’ve got a big game to prepare for for tomorrow. It’s a privilege for me now to sit in this position. I understand the responsibility that comes with that and now the focus is to flipping our minds and looking forward quickly.
“It’s what this club does very well and what this club’s done really well historically and that’s certainly the aim now. We’re very much looking forward to the game tomorrow, going over there with a real positive mind and attitude. The boys will be ready for it, so, yeah, we can’t wait for the game to come.”
When asked what changes he would make tactically and in terms of playing personnel in his first match in charge, Carrick did not give much away.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” he said evasively.
“I’ve worked closely with Ole for a long time now and we have very similar beliefs like we did as players and obviously as manager.
“Yes, of course, I’ve got my own personality to Ole but of course it’s going to be similar because that’s why we’ve worked together for so long. We’ll have to wait and see, I’m not going to give much away, my plans are clear in my head how we want to play and how we will go about it. I’m looking forward to seeing it on the pitch.
“Yeah, obviously it’s a challenge, of course it is. The initial reaction yesterday, coming to terms with the situation… But quite quickly you have to focus on the responsibility. It’s such a great club and working for this club in whatever capacity, never mind the position I’m in now, I don’t take that lightly in any way, shape or form.
“I’m going to throw myself into doing everything I can. Of course, it’s limited time, I’m well aware of that but it’s a challenge I’m relishing at the moment.”
Carrick would also be drawn into reveling his ambitions if his temporary spell turns out to be successful like Solskjaer’s in 2018 before the Norwegian was given a long-term contract.
He said: “First and foremost, it’s been literally a day, just about 24 hours since everything unfolded. The game’s not much further away in terms of time so all I’ve been thinking about is the game tomorrow night.
“I’m not looking past that. Of course we’ve got another game coming up past that, a big game at the weekend but we’ll address that when we need to.
“For however long I’m here I’ll do my best to get results and hopefully we’ll get good ones. We should get good ones. I truly believe that we should get good results and we’ll wait and see what happens after that.”
When asked what he had learnt from United playing against Villarreal in the closely contested UEFA Europa League final last May and the first leg of this season’s Champions League at Old Trafford, Carrick praised the Spanish side, who could feature Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze on Tuesday
While Villarreal won the Europa League final on penalties, United came from behind to win the Champions League first leg 2-1.
He said: “They’re a very good team, very well-organised, very well-coached. Two different games in some ways. “In the [Europa League] final I thought we did really well, stopped them for long periods but we didn’t have a cutting edge in the final third and that hurts when you get so close but we weren’t good enough on the night to finish it off.
“The first game [this season], it was pretty much what we expected. They’re a team that play the ball well, have got some nice connections over the pitch, good technical players who can pass the ball and keep the ball off you at times as well as speed and penetration on the last line, so for them it’s a good mix, a good balance.
“So we respect that, yes, we played them a couple of times so we know each other a bit better, so we go there with a plan to go out on to the pitch and we really look forward to the game. It’s a big game for both teams at this stage of the competition, that goes without saying but one that we go there and really look forward to.”
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