It has been another eventful week at Manchester United.
Being in Como and seeing the club falter to another disappointing result, adding to an increasingly sad start to the season, was hardly half of the events that occurred this week.
What also took the headlines was a senior player, for the second week in a row, doing incredible post-match interviews which call – not the club’s hierarchy and ambition into question as Lisandro Martinez’s interview did – but the coach and his staff’s tactics on this occasion by captain Bruno Fernandes.
The games, performances, interviews… you have to think all contributed to Michael Carrick conducting an astonishing five-minute monologue in his pre-match news conference on Friday afternoon.
Within the emotional speech, there were clearly messages for the changing room. Humility. Humbleness. Perhaps qualities Carrick feels like he has not seen enough of within the walls of Carrington.
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Key moments from Manchester United boss Michael Carrick’s pre-match press conference against Bournemouth.
So as I sat down with United’s No 1 goalkeeper Senne Lammens, there was only one place to start – is this changing room united?
“For me personally, I think it is,” Lammens said.
“I think it’s easy to see maybe after a game when players are very frustrated, and I get it, I’m very frustrated as well because we all really want to do better and we all want to win and then we might say sometimes things we don’t really mean or fully explain what we mean.
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Michael Carrick gives defiant speech following a string of winless matches ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League match against Bournemouth.
“Of course, the people at home can’t see that, so we need to also try to look like that when we are on the pitch in the weekend, but I can assure you that we’re doing everything we can and we’re all together behind the coach, as a staff, players, front office.
“Everyone knows, of course, they have to do better, but I think we are united and we are trying to get better as a team and together.”
Once again against Como, United started poorly – conceding within the first few minutes of the game and it is one of their perils of this season so far.
Sunday 25th October 12:30pm
Kick off 2:00pm
It happened 60 seconds earlier against Atletico Madrid the week before and they also started poorly against Fulham and Spurs either side of the international break.
There may be different factors, qualities of opposition at play here, but you also cannot get over the fact United have only kept one clean sheet this season and that came against Sabah on September 10 in the Champions League.
“It’s difficult,” Lammens said.
“We have to learn from that as well fast, because you can try to come up with plans and tactics, but if you get a goal against in the first or second minute, it kind of screws up a little bit your game plan and you’re kind of chasing the game from then on.
“That’s probably one of the biggest things we need to work on right now is to keep ourselves in the game and to try and get that first goal ourselves, instead of being 1-0 down straight away.
“I get people thinking it’s an easy fix, or like, why don’t you just try harder or something like that?
“Trust me, we are trying harder every day and trying to come up with a solution, but sometimes when it’s not going your way, everything falls into place for the other team.
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Sky Sports’ Paul Merson reflects on Manchester United’s poor form but believes Michael Carrick should remain as United boss, following their heavy 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League.
“You only need one performance to turn it around, and I think that’s what we’re trying to aim for and what we’re working really hard on right now.
“As you mentioned, it’s very easy to have narratives or stories and headlines and something that’s been targeted at the team as well.”
Tactics and narratives?
Lammens is right, there have been a lot of narratives thrown at Carrick’s side throughout the season, but after Wednesday’s loss it is hard to argue against many of them – especially when you consider the team are on their worst run of form since 2014-15, seven games without a win in all competitions.
Carrick is the first to defend his side despite some lacklustre performances this season, but there was no deflecting or diverting away from the Como defeat. He admitted his side lacked in so many areas that others have observed from his team this season including aggression, intensity and running.
However, these are three aspects Carrick’s side absolutely had last season in his first five months in charge which were key in wins against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.
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Sky Sports’ Danyal Khan provides insight on three things we learned from Manchester United’s embarrassing Champions League loss at Como.
Although there is no doubt Carrick and his staff have tried to adapt their playing style this campaign compared to last, there is still such confusion as to why the team have looked second best in the majority of their games this season so tactically, what has changed?
Lammens said: “Last season I felt like, playing-wise, maybe we played sometimes better this season, but last season everything just clicked and went the right way for us.
“We struggled as a team together when they pressed us, but we didn’t concede that many goals, and then I think as a counter team a bit more last season we did really well, but you also know, I think everybody knew that we had to improve as well from that, that teams were going to change the way they played against us.
“So that’s why we had to evolve this season and in preseason, we tried to do some different things to get us in the best position to win games.
“I think we need a little bit more like last season, the way we fought together, even when it wasn’t going the best and just trying to fight as a team and defend as a team, I think that’s probably something we need to try to get back to.”
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Manchester United boss Michael Carrick admitted his team’s performance was ‘not acceptable’ in their 4-1 loss at Como in the Champions League.
I admired Lammens for his openness and willingness to explain the changing room’s point of view as it is so rare players feel comfortable enough in the type of predicament United are in to do so.
He continued when we reflected a bit more on last season and he mentioned the word “fight” – a quality the team showed much of last season to deliver Champions League football that they need to get back to.
A basic measurement fans at Old Trafford have arguably rarely seen this season so again, simple question – where has it been?
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Leeds and Manchester United.
“I get it, I see people talking about numbers and maybe stats and data, I’m not sure about that, because every game is a little bit different,” Lammens said.
“I think, like I said, with the ball we try to do a bit of different things, try to improve, because last season we weren’t always the best with the ball. I think we have improved in those sort of things, but maybe the mindset of having the ball and trying to play around has that mindset of when you don’t have the ball and try to fight for it the way we did last season.
“We need to get a bit of both. It is a fine line, to be honest, that aggressiveness. When you don’t have the ball and when you have the ball, you want that calmness, that being able to play from the back and being able to play through the press. I think it’s just finding that fine line in ourselves.”
It has been a difficult few days for those associated with United, but in a week where senior players have perhaps piled more pressure on those inside it, I must admit I walked away from my conversation with Lammens with at least the hope they have an emerging leader in the changing room who is clearly finding his voice.
Watch Man Utd vs Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event; kick-off 2pm
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