Michael Carrick stresses significance of Munich air disaster to Manchester United history

LONDON – Michael Carrick said his Manchester United players must “understand the history” of the Munich air disaster as the club marked the 68th anniversary of the tragedy.

The United team were on their way back from a European Cup match when their plane crashed in Munich, after a stop to refuel, causing 23 fatalities – including 11 players and staff of the English giants.

Carrick made the comments on Feb 5 at a press conference ahead of the home clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Feb 7, pushed back a day so as not to coincide with the Feb 6 service at Old Trafford to mark the disaster.

“As soon as you come (to this club), you’re made aware, and you can’t help but know and understand the history,” said the 44-year-old, who has served United as a player, coach and manager.

“I think it’s a responsibility that when you work here, you play, you coach, you understand what’s come before us, and behaviours and responsibilities that we need to carry through.

“Munich is probably the biggest part of the history of this club... how the team and the football club bounced back from it and then went on to success.”

Carrick has had a dream start to his interim reign with three consecutive wins over Manchester City, Arsenal and Fulham. He has the luxury of plenty of time on the training ground with United set to play only 40 games this season – their lowest number since the 1914-15 campaign.

“It was kind of step by step. I wasn’t looking too far ahead,” he added.

“People were saying at the time the first two games were standout and we expedited a tough start and in some ways that helped get the whole group focused and alive.

“The three wins have been fantastic in different ways. We’ve got a lot of growth in the team and squad.”

On facing Spurs, he said: “They have really good attackers that look to stretch the backline and play forward and attack the box an awful lot. A slightly different game to what we’ve played in recent weeks.”

Patrick Dorgu remains out with a hamstring injury, while Carrick said Matthijs de Ligt and Mason Mount are nearing a return to action.

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank, meanwhile, said that Cristian Romero’s outspoken social media comments about the club’s transfer policy had been “dealt with internally” as he refused to confirm if the Spurs skipper had been disciplined.

Romero made headlines on Feb 2 when, within an hour of the transfer window closing, he posted that it was “disgraceful” that the squad were left with only 11 fit players.

“Cuti (Romero) is a very passionate character and player. He wants to leave everything on the pitch and he is very ambitious and wants to win every time,” Frank said.

“Sometimes there can be an outburst, which happened this time. It is something we have dealt with.”

Tottenham are struggling in 14th place in the table, while United are fourth.

Behind the top two of Arsenal and City, the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League increasingly looks like a case of three from four.

The strong performance of English sides in European competition is almost certain to mean fifth is enough for Champions League qualification.

Just seven points separate third-placed Aston Villa from Liverpool in sixth. Chelsea are in fifth.

After defying the odds to keep pace in the title race for most of the season, back-to-back home defeats by Everton and Brentford have Villa looking over their shoulder.

Villa need to get back to winning ways away at Bournemouth, while United and Chelsea – who visit bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers – look to maintain their charge up the table. AFP, REUTERS