Carrick: Recovery Never In Doubt

Michael Carrick insists there was never any doubt in the Manchester United dressing room that the players would recover from the heartbreak of losing the title in such dramatic fashion last season.

After losing out on goal difference to Manchester City in the final seconds of the 2011/12 campaign, the Reds were determined to bounce back with a vengeance this time round.

A 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Monday night ensured a 20th league title for the club and helped banish the harrowing memories of last May.

“It hurt and it wasn't pleasant but we pretty much started thinking about this season straightaway,” Carrick told reporters. “It was said in the dressing room (at Sunderland, on the final day of 2011/12) 'remember this feeling'. It wasn't pleasant. Even coming to the end of this season, we had a decent gap, but we didn't want to let it slip because we know what it felt like.

“There are not many teams who could have come back from that. It was devastating. But we came back for the start of the season, got out on the pitch, started playing well and getting points. I am proud of being part of that. The character of the lads is incredible. Not many teams could have done that.”

This latest title triumph is Carrick’s fifth as a Red and he insists his hunger to win more is only getting stronger.

“I said before I came here that if I won a league that would have meant everything to me. Strange as it is though, as soon as I won that first league it left me hungry for more,” he explains.

“Whether that is from being here, or just the feeling that came with the opportunity for getting more here, I don't know. Before I came here one trophy would have been a big success from where I came from. But the satisfaction of winning it is such a good feeling you want it again and again, and you get hungrier to win it again.

“I definitely want more,” he added. “The season is not over yet, we haven't even got the trophy, but we will come back next year and give it everything again. We will be as hungry as ever. That is how we bounce back from this so well. Regardless of whether we have been successful the year before or not, we are trying to achieve again. What is gone is gone. We lost against City and we bounced back. It is something we pride ourselves on.”