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Paul McNamara

When Manchester United told their 66 million Instagram followers on Saturday they had lost 4-2 to AC Milan, the responses were pretty unequivocal.
The kinder supporters wrote about a “reality check”, or implored the club’s deeply unpopular owners to put their hands in their pockets. In one case, the Glazers and their co-owner, Jim Ratcliffe, were told to “sell the whole team”. Others used terms like “disgrace”, “disaster”, “embarrassing” and “terrible”.
“We are cooked, [head coach, Michael] Carrick will be sacked by January,” chipped in one disaffected commenter.
This, remember, after a pre-season friendly.
Welcome to the modern Manchester United, where managers and players are subjected to a level of scrutiny scarcely matched elsewhere.
“To play for United, you have to let go of the pressure,” Antonio Valencia, who swapped the relative backwater of Wigan Athletic for Old Trafford in 2009, told the South China Morning Post. “You just need the manager’s confidence and to relax.”
In a decade with the club, Valencia won five major honours. He was part of the team that 13 years ago won the most recent of Manchester United’s 20 top-flight English titles.

There is a direct correlation between the wait for a 21st crown and the heightening pressure around the club’s players, head coach and owners.
Were United off the back of a trophy-winning campaign, or generally perceived to be in rude health, it is unlikely that even the most quick-to-anger followers would have reacted quite so vehemently to their team losing a practice match.
Still, seeds of optimism were sown in the second half of last season after Carrick, the club’s decorated former midfielder, replaced the well-liked but floundering Ruben Amorim.
After lifting United from sixth to third in the Premier League, sealing a Champions League return after two years away, following a sequence of 12 wins and three draws from 17 matches, Carrick, 45, became the club’s seventh permanent boss since Alex Ferguson signed off following that last title triumph.
“Michael changed the system [shelving Amorim’s muddled back-three] and you can see the players feel more comfortable,” Jaap Stam, a three-time Premier League-winning player with United, told the SCMP.
“He’s given the players confidence, and clear instructions over how he wants to play. Being young, he’s close to the players, which is positive. He knows the club, the expectations, and the pressure you’re under, and we’re all convinced he can push the team to a new height.”
It is illustrative of the hair-raising level of Premier League managerial churn that Stam cited United’s relative stability as an advantage over rivals such as Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool, who have all changed boss since the end of last season.
“Those are teams that will be trying to win the league, and there’s a lot of pressure on their new managers,” Stam said. “Michael is now a step ahead of them, after taking over last season.”
Valencia, in Hong Kong for the JC Youth Football Academy Summit, said that in his short time in charge Carrick had returned to his squad the “passion and the love for playing in a stadium that puts pressure on you and wants the best for you”.

Whether the former England player has laid a platform that will allow United to compete for honours this season will speedily become apparent.
After a fairly benign start, against the promoted pair of Hull City and Ipswich Town, United have a trip to Everton and a home Manchester derby, either side of the first of eight Champions League group games.
“I’m confident they’ll do well, but before a season you’re basing your expectations on what happened last time,” Stam said. “You can only have a fair opinion when you’ve seen how the team is going, and how the manager is operating.”
Show any signs of wilting and the United manager and players are likely to not only find themselves buried beneath a pile-on from their more disenfranchised supporters and gleeful rival fans, but on the sharp end of the tongues of the legion of former stars who use their prominent media platforms to painstakingly analyse, and often criticise their old club.
With 37 Premier League and seven Champions League titles between them, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand have the right to comment and then some, but trying to follow in their footsteps requires a thick skin.
Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos, from Aston Villa and Chelsea, respectively, have been purchased this summer.
“When Manchester United sign a player, of course they look for ability, but they want individuals who can add to the team’s personality and drive it forward,” Stam said.
“Sir Alex did it in the past, and the club has been great at doing it lately.
“Negativity can come from journalists and social media, but I think the players there now can handle it.”
That only midfielders Tielemans and Santos have been added to last season’s squad is a matter of frustration for some fans. The counter-argument is that recruiting in large numbers would risk upsetting the equilibrium Carrick established in his opening months.

The manager himself is on the same page as supporters. “We want more, we need more, we keep looking for how we can do that,” Carrick said.
Omar Berrada, the United CEO, last week said the club was hunting “players who genuinely improve the team, not players we bring in just to increase the numbers”.
That should be music to the ears of supporters who on the Glazers’ watch have seen untold sums squandered on ill-fits such as Antony, Jadon Sancho, Andre Onana, Romelu Lukaku and Donny van de Beek.
United are said to want a new left-back, potentially Lewis Hall from Newcastle United, and a midfielder to cover the exit of Casemiro, and the long-term injury for Manuel Ugarte. Scholes has called for Carrick to strengthen at centre-half.
“Other teams are spending money and building, and United are trying to do it wisely,” Stam said. “You need to have a good look at the positioning in the team, and see how you can help the manager.”
After saying Marcus Rashford was “purring like a Ferrari” in pre-season, Carrick, a five-time Premier League winner as a United player, could yet be able to count on the rejuvenated England forward as a valuable wild card.
Harry Maguire will have a point to prove after being omitted from England’s World Cup squad, while United have kept hold of the influential Bruno Fernandes despite reported interest from elsewhere.
“They’ve put together a good team and have a good manager,” said Valencia, who played 205 matches alongside Carrick. “If they play with passion and heart, I think they can win a major title.”
A more circumspect Scholes said United remained “a little bit away” from mounting a title challenge, while Berrada believes the club is in a “good place” to become champions by 2028.
The positive noises are illustrative of United’s progress this calendar year, although the online condemnation of his team’s effort against Milan would have provided Carrick with a reminder that supporters want him to give them something to shout about sooner rather than later.


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At Manchester United, managers and players are subjected to a level of scrutiny scarcely matched elsewhere. Photo: Reuters

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Manchester United manager Michael Carrick sealed Champions League qualification last season. Photo: EPA

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Hong Kong’s U16 goalkeeper makes a save against Manchester United Academy in their JC Youth Football Academy Summit match at Mong Kok Stadium. Photo: Karma Lo

Manchester United in a hurry to resume play after drawing level at 1-1 against Hong Kong Photo: Karma Lo

Hong Kong’s U16 team beat Manchester United Academy on penalties. Photo: Karma Lo

The Hong Kong U16 team celebrate after beating the Manchester United side at Mong Kok Stadium. Photo: Karma Lo

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Sport

Football

Former players backing Michael Carrick to build on promising start as manager, but fans’ impatience illustrated by reaction to AC Milan loss


Former players backing Michael Carrick to build on promising start as manager, but fans’ impatience illustrated by reaction to AC Milan loss.


Hong Kong Jockey Club

Michael Carrick

Manchester United ‘can handle pressure’ in bid to end torturous Premier League wait

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Former players backing Michael Carrick to build on promising start as manager, but fans’ impatience illustrated by reaction to AC Milan loss

Former players backing Michael Carrick to build on promising start as manager, but fans’ impatience illustrated by reaction to AC Milan loss