Carrick Says Matching Ferguson Is Not Impossible, 40 Years After Fergie’s Arrival

• Michael Carrick says Manchester United can still reach the heights of Sir Alex Ferguson’s era, on the 40th anniversary of Ferguson’s appointment, per Sky Sports.
• United are 17th, one place above the relegation zone, with one win from nine league games, the same return as Ron Atkinson’s side in 1986 before Ferguson replaced him.
• Carrick’s side host Aston Villa on Sunday at 4.30pm after a 3-2 comeback win over Roma in midweek.

A Familiar League Position and a Question About Time

Asked on Friday whether United could be judged against Ferguson’s standards, Michael Carrick answered: “It’s not impossible. Anything’s possible.”

The question arrived 40 years to the day after Ferguson was appointed United manager, on 6 November 1986. Carrick is ten months into the job and gave an emotional address last month, when he would not rule out dropping Bruno Fernandes. His team are 17th, one place above the relegation zone, with one win from their first nine league games. Atkinson’s side won one of their first nine in 1986-87, and Atkinson was sacked after 13 games with United 19th.

Build, Sustain, Repeat

Ferguson inherited a club that had last won the league in 1967 and needed almost seven years to deliver his first title. Thirteen Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns followed. Ferguson survived a barren three and a half years before winning the FA Cup in 1990, the first of 38 trophies over more than a quarter of a century.

Carrick said: “It’s difficult to bring success. It was difficult then, and it’s difficult now.”

“It just shows you how tough it is to have sustained success, never mind moments of success.”

“We’ve got to live in the moment. We know what we’ve got to do, and we’ve got to be focused on bringing success week to week in games.”

“Then things fall into place. If you do that enough, and do it often enough, you’ll bring a bigger version of it.”

“You’ve got to build. You’ve got to be realistic, and you’ve got to put things into perspective as well.”

“Look at the recent history we’ve had, where we’re trying to get to and what we want to achieve. It’s not going to happen in a blink of an eye. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

“Success does take time, and we don’t like having to spend time, but it does take a period of time to build.”

“We showed a really quick response and improved a lot last season, and that shows what’s possible.”

“But sustaining it is the key. Consistency is the key. There’s no other way of doing it, and there are no shortcuts.”

Asked whether he would be given the same amount of time as Ferguson, Carrick talked about how the sport has changed.

“The game has certainly changed, no doubt. It always does. It evolves, and it had evolved by the time Sir Alex came in, probably after Sir Matt and the years following that.”

“It evolves all the time. That’s how it is. It changes, and we’ve got to deal with what’s in front of us. That’s us.”

“I understand the comparisons. There’s always different things to compare, but we have to live in the present as well and definitely use past experiences to help us.”

He finished with: “Time and patience, but we’re all desperate to win football matches and win them as quickly as we possibly can.”

The Roma Win and the Robins Question

United’s 3-2 comeback against Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday eased some of the pressure on Carrick. It was put to him that the win could be his “Mark Robins moment”, a reference to the striker’s FA Cup winner against Nottingham Forest that was said to have saved Ferguson from the sack.

Carrick smiled. “More comparisons, yeah,” he said. “You always find something to compare, don’t you? It’s up to us to take it forward, you know. It was a fantastic night.”

“It was nice for the supporters to end like that and to have that feeling, one hundred per cent for sure.”

“But nothing’s achieved yet, and it’s one moment really in time that we need to use to move forward. But we need more of it, for sure.”

Carrick on Ferguson the Man

Carrick spent seven years playing under Ferguson, and Wayne Rooney said in January that Carrick gave United a taste of the Ferguson years. Asked about the anniversary, he said: “What has not been said already? It’s something definitely worth celebrating as a football club. That it’s 40 years this week since he came here, and the impact on the football club, moving forward for all the time that he was here and that he’s left for others to carry forward is incredible.”

On their relationship now, he said: “I’m probably closer to him now and speak to him more than I did when I was playing. I think relationships change over time, and that’s only natural.”

“Ever since I came here, the impact he had on me as an individual was immense.”

“Not necessarily directly, in terms of talking all the time or constantly giving advice, but more through the influence he had and the habits you try to pick up from him.”

“Then you move on and evolve a little bit into a friendship, really, which is really nice.”

“It’s just the impact he’s had, and continues to have, on this football club.”

What Comes Next

Carrick confirmed that Carlos Baleba, the £70million signing from Brighton, will be out for a “number of weeks” with a right hamstring injury from the Roma game. United will wait to see whether Patrick Dorgu, back in training after a hamstring strain, can face Villa.

Sunday’s game at Old Trafford, kicking off at 4.30pm, gives Carrick the chance to turn one good night into a run.