Man Utd were handed a relatively easy start to the Premier League campaign but have taken just four points from their first three games.
Michael Carrick insisted Manchester United’s start to the season isn’t as bad as is being made out and said his team will “be fine”, despite seeing them take just four points from their first three games.
Although United thrashed Ipswich 5-2 at Old Trafford last week, they fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Hull City on the opening day of the campaign and twice threw away a lead at Everton, drawing 2-2 against a side on the brink of crisis.
United had been presented with a kind fixture list at the start of the season, facing two newly-promoted teams, while Everton were in disarray after a disastrous end to the transfer window on Tuesday.
Carrick’s side led twice through goals for Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, but strikes from Tyrique George and Ainsley Maitland-Niles earned the Toffees a deserved point.
After the game, Carrick was asked about his team’s disappointing start to the season and why they hadn’t yet hit the heights of the second half of last term, but the United head coach rejected the idea.
“We haven’t started the season that bad, to be honest,” he said.
It was suggested four points from three games probably didn’t meet expectations, but Carrick insisted his side would quickly recover and seemed reluctant to go with the idea that the start to the season had been disappointing.
“It’s not that bad, you know. We were that close to coming away with three points today. That’s football, little moments that we can deal with a bit better, but we’ll be fine,” he said.
United were 1-0 up with seven minutes to go before a chaotic end to the game. Sesko restored their lead with two minutes to go, only for Maitland-Niles to score a stunning goal in the final minute of injury time.
“We’re disappointed, bitterly disappointed to be in the position we were in the game twice, so close to the end,” said Carrick.
“All the work that went into putting us in that position at different stages to then come away like that leaves us… yeah, it’s not a great feeling, so, it feels like a defeat.
“It’s a bit of a cliché, it’s the obvious thing to say at this stage, but we have taken a point. We can’t ignore that, but it feels that we should have had a lot more.”
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