HULL, England (AP) — Michael Carrick had a message to the critics jumping on Manchester United after its disheartening defeat in the opening round of the Premier League.
Relax.
“I played here for a long time, you don’t do that without the ups and downs but you have to carry on as normal,” United’s manager said after the 2-0 loss at Hull on Saturday. “We just don’t all have to shout and scream and create some chaos.”
Still, it didn’t mean Carrick wasn’t hurting inside after being beaten by one of the expected relegation candidates this season.
Hull, after all, was one of the three promoted teams and only came up via the playoffs.
“Calmness doesn’t mean there is not emotion,” he said. “We have lost one game and it is not a nice one.”
United conceded two goals from set pieces in the first half — Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy were the scorers — and captain Bruno Fernandes saw the “same mistakes as we did last season in every away game.”
“We give too much of the ball to them. In the first 20 minutes the goalkeeper had more touches on the ball, too much time,” Fernandes said. “We need to press a little bit more, be more aggressive. And set play, we need to work on it.”
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