Manchester United

Manchester United's Michael Carrick: 'It's been a tough week to take'

By Danielle Joynson, Staff Reporter | 14 December 2015

Michael Carrick says that he and his Manchester United teammates have found the past week 'tough to take' following their Champions League exit and defeat to Bournemouth.

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has admitted that the past couple of results have been 'tough to take'.

Louis van Gaal's side exited the Champions League at the group stage on Tuesday following a 3-2 defeat to Wolfsburg in Germany.

The team followed up that result with a shock 2-1 loss to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday night.

United have now gone five Premier League games without a win, which is their worst run since the 1998-99 season.

"It's been a tough one to take, very disappointing week," Sky Sports News quotes Carrick as saying. "Going out of the Champions League was obviously tough to take and we were very disappointed, and then to come [to Bournemouth], we wanted to bounce back. We tried to bounce back and to fall short like we have is doubly disappointing.

"I could say different reasons, I could talk a lot, but at the end of the day it's about the results. We need to get back, stick together and trust ourselves to do the right thing and bounce back next week.

"I mean, we've had a few injuries, I'm not making any excuses but if you look at the injuries. I thought the young lads did well, to be honest. It was a tough one to come into, tough two games."

Despite being fourth in the Premier League table, Van Gaal's position as manager has come under scrutiny, with some reports claiming that United have stepped up their pursuit of Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola.