Carrick Craves More Silverware

Michael Carrick insists the hunger for trophies will never waver at Manchester United, no matter how much silverware the club wins.

The midfielder claimed his fifth Barclays Premier League title medal last term, capping a hugely impressive campaign for the England international who was also named Players' Player of the Year by his team-mates.

The champions face a tough task to retain the trophy with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea - Monday's visitors to Old Trafford - all determined to claim the championship crown. But Carrick insists United's desire to remain top dogs is greater than ever.

"It's not difficult at all [to stay hungry]. It's very easy," he told MUTV. "It's that feeling of picking up the trophy and the satisfaction of achievement you get as a group of players and as a club. You want that feeling again and again. Once you get it you get greedy and you want more.

"You look at someone like Giggsy who has won 13 titles which is incredible. But I can understand why he still wants more.

"This season we've come back as hungry as ever and that's on the back of winning it last season. In some ways you're even hungrier to do it again when it comes to retaining the trophy because everyone wants to beat you. That's what drives us forward."

Three points against Chelsea on Monday night would certainly be a big boost to the title defence, particularly with visits to Liverpool and City coming up early next month.

"It was a good start for us [at Swansea] and important to get off to a win given the whole picture in terms of having a change in manager and a tough start to the season in the first five or six games," added Carrick. "It was a decent performance but there is still an awful lot of improvement we can make and more to come from us.

"Sir Alex said a few years ago about how you used to be able to almost start slowly and then come Christmas really gain momentum until the end of the season. But now, because whichever team wins the league doesn't lose many games or drop many points, you have to be right at it. There has been a real emphasis on that in the last few years. It's something we're all aware of and other teams are aware of too.

"It's tough to know [which teams will be involved until May]. Two years ago Tottenham were right in there, but they faded a way a bit. I think there potentially could be four, five or six teams involved right until January or February. Just after that is when it really gets sorted out and when the pressure kicks in and the expectations change. It's how you deal with that. Hopefully we'll be right in there with a shout by then and we can use our experience to see us through."