Michael Carrick calls for calm after flying start to Manchester United reign

LONDON – Michael Carrick has warned his Manchester United players not to get carried away by their impressive wins against Manchester City and Arsenal ahead of their match against Fulham on Feb 1.

The 44-year-old has made a flying start to his spell as interim manager with a 2-0 home victory against City followed by a thrilling

3-2 win at English Premier League leaders Arsenal

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After those surprise results against the league’s current top two, United will be favoured to see off seventh-placed Fulham at Old Trafford this weekend.

A third successive victory would equal Ruben Amorim’s best league run in a turbulent reign that ended with the sack earlier in January, giving Carrick the opportunity to return to the club until the end of the season.

“The feeling around the group, around the squad and the results that we have had, the performances and going into the next game, I don’t think the past is too relevant in that respect,” Carrick said of his strong start.

“We understand it and what has worked before and what hasn’t, but really I think the boys are in a good place going into the game.

“All of a sudden, it is a different game, it’s Fulham and just because we are at home, taking anything for granted is bang out of order, really.”

When asked what he feels would be needed to take his team to the next level, which for this season would be to secure a top-four spot, he added: “I think, ultimately, consistency is the key to success, you know, and I think it’s, in my eyes, one of the most difficult things to achieve, to be good consistently.

“So yeah, it takes so much... It takes a level of performance. It takes a level of mentality and the intensity and the concentration and actually being able to cope emotionally with the ups and downs of what each game brings and moving on to the next.

“And you’ve got to play with feeling, you’ve got to play with emotion, so there’s definitely that side of things we speak about. We’re definitely aware of what it’s taken to have the couple of weeks we’ve had.”

The former United midfielder and captain also said that the Red Devils are monitoring the transfer market ahead of the Feb 2 deadline after wing-back Patrick Dorgu limped off with a hamstring issue at Arsenal.

The in-form 21-year-old will be “out for a period of time”, according to Carrick after reports said that his absence could last 10 weeks.

“We’re calm. I think we’ve shown what we’re capable of doing as a team and we’ll just see what the next few days bring,” he said.

The caretaker boss was then asked about skipper Bruno Fernandes, who just crossed his six-year mark at United and has constantly been linked with a move away despite him being an influential figure at the club.

“I’ve seen the impact he had as soon as he got here,” Carrick added.

“He had a huge impact straightaway in so many ways, you could see the passion. Straightaway, you’d seen the quality and that’s carried on all the way through and his consistency, his level of performances.

“His willingness to always put himself out there and physically be able to do it. And I think there’s a lot to credit him for in that respect.”

Fernandes has been leading the team who have scored in each of their last 11 Premier League games, while also conceding just one in their last three at the Theatre of Dreams.

Fulham, however, have been beaten in just one of their last eight contests in all tournaments.

“Playing against Manchester United, home or away, they are always special and difficult games,” said their manager Marco Silva.

“We like this type of challenge. It’s going to be a great test for ourselves. To test ourselves in these type of places and against sides that are full of motivation is going to be a great one for us.” AFP, REUTERS