Michael Carrick claimed that he was yet to see the Lisandro Martinez red card incident at the centre of Manchester United's defeat at Chelsea, while also providing an update on his future at the club. United's 2-0 loss ensured their winless run stretched to nine matches. While he was naturally frustrated by the loss, Carrick does not expect to be dismissed or plans to resign before the midweek Champions League game against Roma. Martinez was vocally critical of United after a recent defeat away to Atletico Madrid, but on this occasion it was his on-field actions which were to blame. Carrick couldn't even look at the Argentine as he left the pitch early, having picked up two yellow cards in just over a minute.
However, Carrick shook his head when asked if he felt he had been let down by Martinez, who struck Wesley Fofana with his forearm to leave the referee with little choice but to point to the spot and show the former Ajax man a second booking. There had been positives in the first half, with a tight offside call denying Matheus Cunha a deadlock-breaking goal. However, Chelsea took control early in the second period with Morgan Rogers opening the scoring and Cole Palmer making the points safe from the spot before a third Blues goal was chalked off for a tight offside.
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"There is a lot of emotion. We are a great football club but we want to win football matches," Carrick added. "The supporters make a lot of effort and pay a lot of money to watch us play.
"You could see today the boys had the game in the right place and things have gone against us in a big way and unravelled quite quickly. There is a lot of emotion right now."
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When asked if he thinks he will be in charge of United's next match, Carrick replied: "Yes."
There were positives to be taken, at least in the first half, with United showing a response after some tough recent results. That all counted for nothing, though, with only one team in the game once Rogers dinked the ball over Senne Lammens.
There were still some in the away end who sang Carrick's name as he approached the travelling fans at full-time. However, that might not be enough after the latest defeat left United at risk of ending the weekend in the relegation zone.
Former United striker Dion Dublin, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live before Carrick faced the press, pulled no punches with his assessment. "I'm hoping someone mentions the Martinez stupidity because there comes a time where the punters need to be told something because they are travelling all over the country and at the moment they are getting no honesty, and they are getting a lot of players who aren't putting a shift in like they should be," he said.
"I don't think that there are many players in a Manchester United shirt right this moment who are honest with themselves and can look in the mirror and say I'm actually busting a gut every time I put a Manchester United shirt on."