Michael Carrick has admitted to getting angry with his Manchester United players and said that was the emotion after the late defeat at Newcastle.
United lost 2-1 at St James’ Park this month after conceding a 90th-minute William Osula goal. This is the only defeat in Carrick’s nine matches in interim charge this season, his team recording seven wins and one draw to take 22 points from the 27 available.
The 44-year-old presents a calm demeanour and was asked whether, as a manager, he can show anger. “Yeah, there’s a time and a place,” Carrick said. “Obviously we’re disappointed at times and so were disappointed with the result at Newcastle, so there’s feelings there.
“It’s a sport, elite performance. You’ve got to play with emotion and feeling and sometimes that is a bit more aggressive, it’s a bit more intense sometimes, so you’ve got to manage that. If I don’t manage that, you can’t expect the players to create the right emotion. So it’s certainly part of our role.”
Carrick was also composed as a footballer and was asked whether any anger displayed was calculated rather than a loss of temper. He said: “No, I think it’s that drive ultimately in you. It comes out in different ways. Some players will be a little bit quieter [but] doesn’t mean they don’t care. They might not show it but there’s something inside.
“There’s a drive, maybe there’s a stubbornness at times to want to prove to yourself as much as anything. To play at a certain level you’ve got to have that confidence in yourself and that belief to ultimately pull it off.
“But the emotion is part of it. I wouldn’t say I’ve put on a performance. I go with how I feel at the time. Certain times it’s a little bit louder maybe, sometimes a bit more feeling, other times it’s calm. It depends on what the group wants and needs at certain points. I guess that’s the ultimate of coaching and managing really: to get the lads in the right frame of mind.”
Matthijs de Ligt has not played since United’s 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace on 30 November owing to a back injury. Carrick said it was unclear whether the defender would return this season.
“It’s one of those things with backs that sometimes you think it’s all right and then all of a sudden it’s not quite right,” he said. “We’re just kind of being patient and working through it.”
Carrick would not be drawn on whether De Ligt may require surgery. “I don’t want to get into that at this stage,” he said. “We’ll obviously try and do whatever we can to help Matta. We’re working through that now at the moment, to be honest. Hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later and everything will be fine.”
