Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has accepted responsibility for his team’s Carabao Cup exit and challenged his players to respond quickly after their 3-2 defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
United appeared to be in control after Shea Lacey and Mason Mount gave them a 2-0 lead within the opening 10 minutes.
However, Brighton staged a strong comeback, with Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper scoring to send their team into the fourth round.
The defeat came only days after United suffered a 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League, increasing the pressure on Carrick’s side.
Carrick said he was ready to take responsibility for the latest setback and insisted that United must quickly change their situation.
“The team’s on me. When we win, people say I’m doing a good job. If we don’t win or don’t get results, then a lot of it is on me. I accept that. I’m not hiding away from any of that,” Carrick said after the match.
The former United midfielder admitted that the game changed dramatically after his team’s impressive start.
He said United were playing well and doing everything they had planned during the first 20 to 25 minutes, but allowed Brighton to take control of the match.
“The feeling at the start of the game and the feeling at the end couldn’t have been further apart. We have to accept that the game can’t go in that direction from where we were,” he said.
Carrick also acknowledged that several disappointing results had added to the frustration around the club.
He pointed to the late goal conceded against Everton and the defeat to Manchester City as setbacks that had contributed to the current situation.
“We fully accept it. I’ve told them to take responsibility. We can’t put ourselves in that position after being ahead in the game and have it finish like it did,” he said.
United will have an opportunity to respond when they travel to face Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
Carrick said the team must put the recent disappointments behind them and return to winning ways.
“We’ve got another game on Sunday, and that’s the crucial thing now,” he said.
“It’s happened quickly tonight, and over a period of two or three weeks there has been a lot of frustration and disappointment around. We need to flip that and start winning games again.”
The United manager rejected the suggestion that his players had let him down.
He instead backed the squad to recover from the difficult period, saying they had enough quality to turn things around.
“We’ve got some really good players. It feels bad at the moment because we haven’t had a great week, or two or three weeks, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win another game of football quickly,” Carrick said.
“The players have shown before what they’re capable of doing, and we have as a group. It doesn’t count for much; it’s always about what happens next.”
Carrick also dismissed concerns about pressure from outside the club, saying his main concern was winning matches.
“What bothers me is winning games, having a good feeling around the place and knowing we’re moving in a good direction,” he said.
“If we’re not on a good run, then we’ve got to get back to being on a good run. That’s as simple as it gets. We’ve got to win football matches, and I fully believe we will.”
He added that United needed to start the recovery quickly, with Sunday’s game against Fulham seen as the first opportunity.
Carrick also urged caution over the attention surrounding highly rated academy teenager JJ Gabriel.
He said the club’s main concern should be protecting the young player’s welfare and wellbeing.
“I think we’ve got to be really careful of the whole situation. He’s a young boy, and the biggest thing for me, and for the club, is his welfare, wellbeing and exposure,” Carrick said.
He explained that discussions about Gabriel were being handled by the club and that everyone involved needed to be careful.
Meanwhile, Carrick expressed disappointment that Lacey’s first goal had been overshadowed by United’s defeat.
He described the youngster’s moment as a special one for him, his family, friends and the club’s academy.
Carrick said United would now focus on Sunday’s trip to Fulham as they look to end their poor run and restore confidence around the team
