Michael Carrick hopes Manchester United can harness the frustration from Sunday’s costly derby defeat to reignite their stuttering campaign when they host Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
After restoring optimism and securing Champions League football last term, the atmosphere around Old Trafford has soured following a sluggish start that has yielded only four points from four Premier League fixtures.
United delivered a subdued performance in Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to Manchester City, failing to take advantage of Phil Foden’s early red card before Erling Haaland scored a contentious winning goal.
Pro Ref later contacted United to acknowledge an “error of judgment”, having allowed the goal to stand despite an offside interference by Enzo Fernandez in the build-up going unchecked.
“We’ve got to move on,” Carrick said regarding the defeat. “We’ve still got to look at it for ourselves and we’ve got to win games. We have done, we’ve won a lot of games and we need to continue to do that.
“I understand it’s a new season, it’s a fresh season and the points tally right now is not what we want it to be, so I’m not hiding from that.
“But it’s more of getting winning games, getting that feeling, getting the habit. It’s easier said than done, of course it is, but we’re capable of it.”
United defender Lisandro Martinez branded the derby decision “unacceptable” and an “injustice” – a sense of grievance Carrick wants his side to use as motivation on Wednesday.
“The players have got an edge,” he said. “I think they’ve shown that to me since I’ve been here. We’ve had setbacks and they’ve bounced back particularly well and had some really good performances and good results, so they’ve got an edge.
“It does give you something when something like that happens (on Sunday) to use moving forward.”
They will require that resolve against a Brighton side who head to Old Trafford following a 5-0 win at Coventry on Sunday. The Seagulls have won four of their past five visits to the stadium across all competitions.
The most recent of those victories came in the FA Cup in January, just prior to Carrick taking over, compounding a miserable domestic cup run that included an early Carabao Cup exit at Grimsby.
Avoidable errors aside, the necessity of silver success remains paramount for Carrick.
“For me, trophies is the beauty and the feeling of winning is what we’re in football for, what we’re in sport for, and certainly what I’m at this club for is to try and win,” the former United midfielder said. It’s not straightforward and you decide you want to win and you go and win. Of course not.
“But it’s important and I think trophies and achieving things and giving supporters that feeling of the emotion of that is important, definitely.”
Carrick indicated Luke Shaw “could possibly be fit” to feature against the Seagulls, though it remains “not clear-cut”. Meanwhile, £70 million summer recruit Carlos Baleba will not face his former side as he recovers from an ankle injury.
The United boss added: “He’ll be back in and around the group at some point over the next week or so, so that means after international (break) he should be in good shape.”
