Carrick is excited by the additions to the Manchester United midfield and welcomes the competition for his place in the team.
Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger have joined the central midfield at Old Trafford, that was already manned by Ander Herrera and himself.
There was very little doubt over his starting eleven spot last season with only Anderson, Cleverley, an injured Fletcher and Fellaini competing for his or Herrera’s place.
In an interview with MUTV, the English midfielder tells how he embraces the battle for his position:
“For the squad to have competition and for the manager to be able to pick and choose in certain games based on fitness and freshness for example, it’s a strong position to be in,”
“It’s tough to pick the same team week in, week out, but I think you can only do it for so long before it hits you further down the line.”
“It’s about keeping everyone fresh and on top form. If you’ve got to sit out, it’s not nice as a player because you want to play every game, but you’ve got to understand that it can’t happen every week – I certainly understand that now. It’s for the good of the team and, come the end of the season, hopefully we’ll all be successful together.”
Carrick was questioned if the change of personnel was difficult to get accustomed to:
“Yes, but at the same time, I understand that I’m 34 now. If you’ve got to play three games a week, you can maybe do it for one week, but for two or three weeks on the spin, I think it’s pretty impossible to do at the top of your game.”
“You have to understand that as a player. I’ve seen players like Giggs, Scholes and Ferdinand all performing well, but sometimes they had to sit one out to be at their best the week after. I understand that, and I’m not naive enough to think differently. That’s just where I am right now.”
Carrick says that the Red Devils will fight for every possible trophy this season, as they missed European football last year. They hope to do well in Europe and in domestic cups:
“I think it’s great,” he added. “It’s where we want to be; playing games in quick succession means you’re involved in the right tournaments, and we want that to continue throughout the season. There won’t be any excuses of fatigue or anything like that – it’s where we want to be.”
“To be successful you have to play those matches, it’s something we’ve done for so many years, and it’s something we’ll aim to do this season, for sure.”
Michael Carrick has featured in every United game this season, and got an assist against Club Brugge in the Champions League Qualifiers.
