Michael Carrick said Manchester United have “bigger games to come” after a 3-2 victory against Premier League leaders Arsenal extended his winning start as head coach and prompted the club’s fans to sing “We’re gonna win the league” at the Emirates.
United moved into the Champions League qualification spots after goals from Bryan Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha sealed a first league win away to Arsenal since Dec. 2017.
Having beaten Manchester City 2-0 in Carrick’s first game in charge last week following his appointment as successor to the fired Ruben Amorim until the end the season, United now sit 12 points behind the Gunners.
But with United out of both domestic cup competitions and with only 15 Premier League games to play between now and the end of the season, Carrick said it was important to stay focused on every game, starting with the visit of Fulham to Old Trafford next Sunday.
“I’m not getting carried away,” Carrick told reporters. “We’ve got some big games, bigger games, coming up, because every next game is the bigger game.
“So we’re not getting carried away. We’ve got really important things coming up that we need to keep improving with.
“But there’s a lot of emotion, a lot of energy and a lot of confidence that you can take from that [beating City and Arsenal], but be humble and understand how we’ve got these results. That’s really important moving forward.”
While Carrick would not be drawn on whether he is a contender to take charge on a permanent basis at the end of the season, the former United midfielder said the team must now simply focus on maintaining their impressive start under his reign.
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“What happens next [manager position] I’m not going to be answering it every week,” Carrick said.
“I’m enjoying it and I’ll continue to do what I can.
“I know from our perspective it’s just about moving forward to the next game. It’s been less than two weeks that we’ve been together, so it’s just keep getting good habits and good routines. The boys have been fantastic with that.
“But I don’t think we can look too far ahead. We certainly won’t be anyway, so we’ll finish where we finish by getting the results.
“I know that’s kind of obvious, but looking too far ahead can come back and bite you. We’ve taken this week by week, game by game and we’ll certainly continue to do that, but we’ve got to ride it, you’ve got to use the emotion, you’ve got to use the energy, you’ve got to use the confidence.
“But it’s a clear focus. Everything is in front of us now, it’s a good start, but we’ve just got to keep building.”
United’s win was marred by Denmark international Dorgu limping off in the closing stages, but Carrick said he is hopeful that the winger was suffering nothing more serious than cramp.
“Pat’s been a big player for us over last couple of games, in so many ways attacking wise, but defensively he has been immense as well against two teams that ask a lot of questions,” Carrick said.
“I’m delighted for him because he has put so much into his performances. It’s nice to see him smiling.
“He came off with a bit of cramp, so hopefully it’s not much more than that.”
