Michael Carrick begrudgingly praised Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta in his press conference ahead of Manchester United’s midweek match against Atletico Madrid.
Michael Carrick’s job as Manchester United manager has been the subject of some speculation in the early stages of the new season, with United sitting 13th in the Premier League having already been eliminated from the League Cup.
The one competition where things have objectively started well is the Champions League, with United winning 4-0 against tournament minnows Sabah FK in their opening game. But the team face a real test now, taking on Atletico Madrid away from home.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone is an oft-cited example of a manager to hold his position for a long time, now 15 years since his appointment.
But when asked about Simeone’s long Atletico spell, Carrick pointed out that the Premier League also has an example of a successful manager being given some time to shine.
“[Long managerial spells are] not normal, but it pains me to say but the one that won the league in our country last season has been there for a long period of time,” Carrick pointed out.
“It’s seven years, and the first two seasons were… maybe seventh or eighth. I think he’s done an incredible job, Mikel [Arteta], and that’s another example.
“You know, we’re talking about Sir Alex [Ferguson] and Diego Simeone who have gone on for a lot longer than that and have built something incredibly special at both football clubs.
“It doesn’t always take time, it depends on the situation of how things go. But more or less, to get to where you want to be and be sustainable and be consistent, then it’s going to take a bit of time to build that foundation.”
Arteta has somewhat understandably become ever manager’s favourite reference point when asking for patience and more time to succeed. But the thing is that Arsenal’s trajectory has only really trended in one direction over the last seven years.
The Gunners did indeed start by finishing eighth in consecutive seasons, but they followed that up by moving up to fifth, then second for a few years, then first.
In Europe, Arsenal have gone from the Europa League to the Champions League quarter-finals, then the semi-finals, then the final.
So Arteta has been given time, but arguably only because he’s consistently delivered improvements. If Carrick doesn’t show the same progression year-on-year, he may not be so lucky.
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