Michael Carrick: "Never question my players' commitment"

Michael Carrick has stressed that the commitment of his Manchester United players to the team is absolutely beyond question.

The Red Devils have made a nightmare start to the season, winning only two of their 13 matches in all competitions (4 draws, 7 defeats). After the defeat at Chelsea, United's winless run across all competitions has stretched to nine matches (3 draws, 6 defeats); the last time the club endured such a long run without a win was in September 1984 (10 matches).

Carrick's side, 17th in the Premier League, have also managed just one win from their three Champions League matches this season (2 defeats), with Roma the visitors on Tuesday.

The players came in for heavy criticism after a dispiriting trip to Stamford Bridge, where United lost 2-0 to Chelsea and Lisandro Martínez was sent off. Carrick, however, did not hold back in defending his players' desire to turn things around.

"The dressing room is a good environment," the United head coach said. "Perception is a very interesting thing; you can take things whichever way you want and think all sorts of things. But you absolutely cannot question the players' commitment to the club, to me and to each other. It's true that we need to play better and make better decisions, but commitment is never up for debate."

Having lost seven of their last 10 Champions League matches (2W, 1D), United are going through the worst 10-match spell in their history in Europe's elite competition. The last time the English giants suffered three consecutive defeats in the competition in the same season was in 2004-05.

Still, there is one encouraging statistic for Carrick: United have won all four of their home European meetings with Roma. Italian sides, meanwhile, have lost 13 of their 17 visits to United in the European Cup/Champions League (3W, 1D). All three of those away wins came by a 1-0 scoreline (Juventus in 1996 and 2018, Milan in 2005).

Insisting his focus is fully on Tuesday's game, Carrick said: "I'm really looking forward to this game. Looking at our results and everything that's happened, you might think I'm mad, but honestly I can't wait for it and my full focus is on this match."