Carrick: We Want Titles, Not Fourth Place

With five Premier League titles to his name, Michael Carrick isn't a player given to settling for fourth place. Manchester United must always challenge for top honours, he says, and in an interview looking back on 2014/15 season the pass-master explains why the Reds will do exactly that under Louis van Gaal...

How would you sum up the 2014/15 campaign?
It was up and down, I think. We had mixed results at the start, picked up for a while, dipped a bit, picked up again and then had another dip. But there are certainly signs of moving in the right direction and signs of big improvement. All in all, we can be satisfied with getting in the top four but it’s not worth celebrating. Hopefully we can do a bit of celebrating next season.

How big an achievement was it to get back into the top four?
It’s an achievement but, listen, it’s not that great. Finishing seventh was a real blip and it was a one-off. This club belongs in the Champions League and we can’t get too carried away with making it because we should be there anyway. We’re certainly satisfied in some ways because of last season (2013/14), but next season we want to look up and not be settling for fourth.

Have you enjoyed working under Louis van Gaal?
He's been terrific for me. I was injured when he first came in, for three months, so it was a while before I really got involved with the boys, with him and his staff. But he was good with me from day one. He said, "don’t worry about the injury, just get yourself fit". He’s a big character, he’s been in the game a long time and he’s seen a lot of things, so he’s got a lot to give to the squad.

Does it help that the manager is such a big character?
Yeah, it’s good. Training was slightly different and slightly new to some of the boys, with the way he puts the sessions together and what he expects, but you can see his imprint on the team and how the team is playing. You know the style of play, the possession and patience… that certainly shines through when we play the games and it’s a good sign for next season.

On a personal level, how do you assess your own season?
It’s been a frustrating year for me. I’ve never had a season like this before in my career, so it’s very frustrating to miss so many games. When I’ve played it has gone all right and I’ve been quite happy with the way it’s gone, but I just haven’t played enough.

The team performed well from November through to the New Year. How important was that?
You look at any season and you have good runs at certain times and it’s hard to put your finger on why it clicks into gear. At that stage we went on a good run. I’ll be honest, I think we got away with a couple of results – the Southampton game at St Mary’s and the Arsenal game away from home. We didn’t play well at all and managed to come away with the points from them. So at that stage we had a bit of momentum, we were playing all right and had some good results.

Have you been impressed by Ander Herrera during his first season at the club?
As time’s gone on and the more he’s played, he’s definitely developed. You could see as soon as he got here he was talented and he's a good player. He’s added a few goals to his game as well, which I’m sure he’ll be pleased about. I’m sure there’s still more to come from Ander in the seasons ahead.

And what about Marouane Fellaini’s excellent contribution?
He’s had a good year, Felli. He’s been given that role by the manager and he’s taken to it very well. He’s caused problems for teams and given us a different sort of dimension in the way we can play at certain times in the game, and he’s nicked himself some goals as well, which is great.

Have we seen a different side to Wayne Rooney, given how much he played in midfield?
Yeah, but I think he’s done that for number of years, when he’s changed his position. He’s a player that can do that. He’s got a lot of attributes that have allowed him to play wide over the years, play up front, or play in midfield, and that’s something he can adapt to quite easily really.

Can United challenge for the Premier League title next season?
I think it’s hard to say. We believe we’ll come back after the summer strong and we’ll look to attack the season, and try to win whatever competition we’re in. It’s not going to change; it’s what we’ve done for years now and we’ll still go into next season looking to be successful.

Finally, what have you made of the fans’ support this season?
The fans have been pretty incredible, this year and last year. It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon when you’re winning trophies, but people show their true colours when it goes the other way and you have a few difficult times. They’ve been right behind us and the manager has said it this season. He can’t believe the support we’ve had as a group of players and full credit to the fans for that, because it’s not easy. Hopefully we can give them a bit more to shout about next year.

Michael Carrick was interviewed for the official Manchester United Season Review 2014/15 DVD, which will be released on 18 June and is available to pre-order now from United Direct (store.manutd.com).