Carrick urges calm after United's worst home collapse in 50 years leaves them 13th

Michael Carrick has called for perspective after Manchester United’s worst home collapse in half a century, insisting the club’s troubled start to the season is “not a catastrophe or a disaster” despite sitting 13th in the Premier League with just one win from their opening four top-flight games.

The result that prompted the sharpest reaction came on Wednesday, when United surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Brighton in the Carabao Cup — the first time in 50 years they have lost at home from two goals ahead. The players were booed off at full-time, days after a 1-0 derby defeat to 10-man Manchester City.

Speaking ahead of United’s next Premier League fixture against winless Fulham, Carrick was measured but direct. “It’s not the end of the world,” he said. “We’re not in a place where we’ve got an awful long run of horrific results. We’ve lost a couple of games recently, and we feel that we’ve started and been in all the games that we’ve played, if not being a better team at the start of a game.”

Carrick was equally clear about where accountability lies. “It’s my responsibility,” he said. “I’m fine with that. It’s not a blame game. Blame me, no problem. I’ll take the responsibility, whatever it is, but it’s not about blaming people. It’s about finding the solutions and being better — as a whole football club, as a group of players, as staff, as owners, supporters. It’s a whole collective thing.”

Asked whether his position was under immediate threat, Carrick suggested the timeline for judgement extended beyond the next result or two. “I think there’ll be a lot longer than one or two games of results,” he said. “I get two or three games that we’ve had certain results, and two or three games too many because I really hate losing, but that doesn’t mean that the world caves in. It can’t for us, because we’ve got to perform, we’ve got to win and we’ve got a lot of games to play for.”

Carrick also urged restraint regarding 15-year-old academy product JJ Gabriel, who attracted headlines this week amid reports that the teenager intends to leave the club following a dispute between his family and the club.