Michael Carrick has said Manchester United must focus only on the next game or two rather than winning a treble, even though that does remain a target for the club.
Michael Carrick
United defeated Southampton 3-2 to win the EFL Cup, are in the Europa League round of 16 and have an FA Cup quarterfinal against Chelsea on Monday. But there has been no talk of winning three trophies within the dressing room, according to Carrick.
“I think that is getting too far ahead of yourself as a player,” he said in the Mail on Sunday. “You have to concentrate on the next game, the next week. If you start thinking about the trophies that you can win and count them off too early then it tends to come back and bite you.
“To be honest there has been no talk about that in the dressing room. It is step by step. We enjoyed Sunday. We have moved on now, it is all about this week now with the Chelsea game and then Rostov, with everything else in the background. Literally no further than that.
“You have to shoot that down. It is dangerous to get ahead of yourself. Of course it doesn’t stop you thinking in the back of your mind as a target to achieve that but to start to trying to predict what it would be like if you did this or that could be quite dangerous.”
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Should United continue to progress in the Europa League and the FA Cup they could eventually play a maximum of 65 games this season. Carrick isn’t concerned by the number of fixtures, but is wary of the scheduling.
“The number of games is not a problem,” he said. “I want us playing 60 or 70 games, not me as an individual but as a club. You have got to be in them to win them, that is what I say all the time.
“You can’t complain about the amount. It is about how they are arranged in days and obviously travel plays a part in it. In terms of the games I’ve got no problem whatsoever. The more the merrier.
“The schedule can be tough but at the same time it is what we are used to. It is part of the challenge. A Europa League game then you come back and play a massive FA Cup game then it rolls into the next game. When you are winning games and playing well as a team you just want the next game to come.
“Of course you cannot carry on relentlessly. We have had a free week last week, which is unusual and enjoyed it, energised for the next game.”
