Michael Carrick scoffs at the idea that he would be happy with a fourth-placed finish in his first season as Manchester United captain.
Arsène Wenger claims finishing in the Champions League places is akin to a trophy, but it is clear that Carrick does not share his theory.
“I can’t get my head round that, to say top four is acceptable,” the midfielder said. “I know we’ve had changes and adjusted as players have come in and out, and you can’t expect to win the league every year, but you’ve got to set out to win the league.
“It’s pretty much win the league or nothing for me. It’s another one gone by if you haven’t won it. That’s the way I see it. We want to win and we’ll be giving everything to do that.”
Carrick’s words do not come as a surprise. He has a winner’s mentality ingrained in him after playing a key role in the final stages of Sir Alex Ferguson’s gilded reign at Old Trafford.
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In the first seven years that followed his arrival from Tottenham Hotspur in 2006, Carrick won the Premier League five times. The four years that followed have been painfully fallow for the 35-year-old, who replaced Wayne Rooney as captain earlier this month after the forward returned to Everton.
Rooney raised a few eyebrows when he claimed that he and Carrick had taken it upon themselves to try to improve standards at the club after they had started slipping in the days since the retirement of Ferguson, but the new captain finds it hard to disagree with his predecessor.
“That’s fair comment from Wayne. That’s just how it works,” he said. “When I came to the club I had players for whom it was down to them to keep the standards up. Obviously as time goes by and people leave that changes — that responsibility of trying to lead and take a certain direction fell to us because we are here the longest.
“So it was up to us with our experience to try and guide the lads. I’m not saying we are always right, but you’ve got to take what you’ve learnt and put it into practice. There have been times in the league when standards have dropped — there’s no hiding from that.”
The winning mentality Carrick possesses is one of the reasons why José Mourinho appointed the midfielder as captain. The United manager spoke to Carrick before the squad flew to America for their pre-season tour and he was honoured to take the armband. “It’s a big responsibility,” he said. “It’s a big club this — a beast of a football club.
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“There’s things that come with playing for the club: responsibility, pressure and expectation and that’s only off the pitch, so I want to try to help the new faces and younger lads. The expectations at this club can consume players. We’ve seen that happen over the years.”
Carrick, who turns 36 next week, will decide at the end of the next campaign whether he feels he can carry on contributing for one more season. “I only want to carry on playing if I’m playing at a good level,” he said. “I don’t want to be hanging around for the sake of it.”
The topic of who should be the next man in line for the captaincy should Carrick leave has already been discussed widely by supporters. Mourinho believes Paul Pogba is a prime contender for the job and Carrick thinks the French midfielder has the right kind of personality to assume the responsibility when he goes.
“He’s certainly got the presence, character and belief to pull it off,” Carrick said. “I’m sure the manager is planning a long way behind me, for someone to take on that mantle and he’s probably in that bracket where you’d say, ‘yeah, he can be a future captain’.”
Mourinho insists Manchester United will not be held to ransom over their remaining targets. The manager has signed Romelu Lukaku from Everton for £75 million and Victor Lindelöf from Benfica for £31 million but Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, has found it difficult to complete the other two signings Mourinho demanded in April. Eric Dier, of Tottenham Hotspur, was his main midfield target with Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic the other. “I said I would like four players and I’m ready to go from four to three because the market is difficult,” he said.
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● Everton will play Ruzomberok in their two-leg Europa League qualifier after the Slovakian side beat Brann Bergen 2-1 on aggregate last night.