Carrick brushes off questions over his Manchester United future

Michael Carrick says he expected tough season start as he rebuffs questions about his role as Manchester United manager.Manchester United boss Michael Carrick said he expected to have to ride out a storm at some point this season after a dreadful start to the current campaign.Carrick was appointed on a permanent basis after his successful temporary spell at the end of last season secured third place in the Premier League and a return to the Champions League.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Real Madrid President says Ceuta visit not related to ‘recent news’list 2 of 4Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal says he has experienced racism ‘a thousand times’list 3 of 4FIFA’s Infantino ‘must go, no ifs or buts’, blasts German FA vice presidentlist 4 of 4Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe ends Nike partnership to join Swiss brand Onend of listBut United have taken just four points from their opening four league games this season and were dumped out of the League Cup in a 3-2 defeat by Brighton in midweek after blowing a two-goal lead at Old Trafford for the first time in 50 years.“In terms of the future and ownership and how long I’ve got, it’s totally nothing. Thinking about it is ridiculous in the position I’m in. It’s ⁠just not on the radar. We’ve got to ⁠perform and we’ve got a lot of games to plan for,” Carrick said ahead of Sunday’s trip to Fulham.“History tells you that any team that’s successful goes through periods when you have to work through it, come through it and improve.“We’ve had a small period, in recent time, when it hasn’t been exactly what we want it to be.“I was expecting a point when we would go through it, it was going to come. We had such a good spell last season, going into this season.”Former United and England midfielder Carrick also has reason to bemoan his side’s luck in recent weeks.United received a swift apology from referees’ chiefs after Erling Haaland’s winning goal for Manchester City last weekend was wrongly awarded because the VAR officials did not spot an offside against Enzo Fernandez in the build-up.