Carrick says Man City's cheating stole the moment as United break silence on 115 verdict

Michael Carrick has said Manchester City’s financial cheating robbed him and his United teammates of the irreplaceable feeling of winning the Premier League title, as he became the first person at Old Trafford to speak publicly following the independent commission’s guilty verdict against City.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Manchester United’s fixture against Tottenham, the United head coach addressed a case that directly concerns him as a former player. United finished second to City in 2011/12 — missing out on goal difference on the final day, when Sergio Agüero’s stoppage-time goal at the Etihad became one of the most iconic moments in Premier League history — and again in 2017/18, Carrick’s last season as a player.

Stripping City of titles won between 2009 and 2018 remains one of the sanctions available to the commission, which found City guilty of almost every charge laid by the Premier League. That outcome would hand United at least one of those championships retroactively.

But Carrick, visibly measured and at times emotional, made clear that a medal delivered years after the fact could not replicate what was lost in the moment. “Once that’s done, there’s no getting that back in any direction,” he said. “That’s the feeling we all crave, coming out on top. That kind of sums it up, whatever’s done in the past, but it is how you feel in that moment. Certainly as a participant, as a performer, and I’m sure the supporters feel the same — that’s why we love it so much because of the emotion in the moment.”

Carrick was asked directly whether he wanted a medal from 2011/12, a season in which he played on the final day at Sunderland only to watch City snatch the title. He declined to give a definitive answer while City’s appeal remains ongoing, but his framing left little doubt about where his feelings lay.

“I think at the moment, as it’s still not finalised, I think I’ll hold that one until later on,” he said. “A medal anyway, in any sport in history, the later on you get the medal [it doesn’t mean as much]. It’s the moment that you strive for to win and achieve in that moment, so the medal here or there — that doesn’t bring the feeling of when you initially win or you don’t win. That’s essentially what we’re all in it for.”

Carrick played enough minutes in 2011/12 to have featured on the final day but did not accumulate sufficient appearances in 2017/18 to qualify for a winner’s medal under Premier League rules, adding a further layer of complexity to any potential retrospective award.