‘It’s Been Strange’—Michael Carrick’s Man Utd Message After Bizarre 24 Days

The return of club football has passed United by over the past 10 days or so.

Michael Carrick’s seen plenty of United’s training ground of late. | Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

Michael Carrick says Manchester United’s players are raring to go after a “strange” 24 days that has seen them go without playing a competitive game.

The Red Devils were last in action on March 20, sharing the spoils in a 2–2 draw with Bournemouth that was action-packed but not quite as crazy as the breathless 4–4 encounter between the two teams in December.

United aren’t competing in any European competition this season, nor are they still involved in this season’s FA Cup—so they’ve had a longer watching brief than others following the conclusion of the March international break.

By the time United’s players take to the Old Trafford pitch to face Leeds United on Monday night, Carrick’s charges won’t have played a match for three-and-a-half weeks.

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Carrick: United Refreshed After ‘Strange’ International Break

Man Utd last played over three weeks ago. | Robin Jones/AFC Bournemouth/Getty Images

“We can’t wait,” Carrick admitted to United’s internal media. “It’s been a strange couple of weeks for us and the boys that have been here, for some of the boys it has been normal going away on international break. It doesn’t feel as big of a deal if you just look at it instead of going it’s been 24 days in-between games as there has been a lot going on between it.

“I have to say the lads have come back together this week and there has been a real nice freshness and a good feeling, an energetic, positive vibe going around, which is really good. We are definitely looking forward to it and it can’t come quick enough now.”

United are in a good position in the Premier League as it stands, sitting third in the table on 55 points ahead of Aston Villa (by one), Liverpool (by three) and Chelsea (by seven). The landscape may be different come kick-off time, though, with Villa in action at Nottingham Forest on Sunday and Chelsea playing later in the day against title-chasing Manchester City.

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If Villa and Chelsea win, the pressure will be on United to beat rivals Leeds—that’s despite the fact that midweek results in the Champions League ensured a top-five finish will be good enough to secure safe passage to European soccer’s top competition, rather than just the top four like in years gone by.

“It’s great. It’s where we want to be, first and foremost, not so much the other teams but it is important,” Carrick said of the extra spot. “The more opportunities we have for that, the better. We would obviously like to finish as high up the league as we possibly can and to have so many English teams involved in it and in that competition, pushing, it then benefits the teams in the league and overall it is fantastic.

“But overall, we get quite selfish when it comes to things like that. It is where we want to be for ourselves more than anything.”

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