Carrick Calls Soft Start Talk Ridiculous Ahead of Premier League Opener

Michael Carrick is having none of it.

Suggestions that Manchester United have been handed a soft landing to the new Premier League season drew a sharp response from the head coach, who branded the idea “ridiculous” as he prepared his side for their opener at Hull.

United begin away to Championship play-off winners Hull on Saturday, then host Ipswich at Old Trafford on 30 August – two newly promoted sides, and, on paper at least, a gentle way in for a team that finished third last season and turned Carrick’s interim stint into a permanent appointment.

The narrative says they should fly out of the blocks. Carrick says that narrative is way off.

“A newly promoted team away from home is a tough game,” he insisted. “I've been involved in them in the past so I'm fully aware of what's coming at us on Saturday and what we've got to be ready for.

“It's not favourable. It's an easy thing to throw out there but it's pretty ridiculous. I'm not taking it that way at all.”

United’s strong finish last season has raised expectations that they will carry that momentum straight into this campaign. Carrick, though, is clearly determined to shut down any sense of entitlement before a ball is kicked, especially with two ambitious newcomers desperate to make a statement against one of the division’s heavyweights.