Michael Carrick says Manchester United can reach the heights achieved under Sir Alex Ferguson, but he does not expect the same patience. The Carrick Ferguson anniversary falls on Friday, 40 years since Ferguson was appointed United manager on 6 November 1986.
Carrick's own position in charge is under scrutiny. A 3-2 comeback win over Roma in midweek ended a nine-game winless run. Aston Villa are the next Premier League opponent on Sunday, live on Sky, kick-off 4.30pm.
Carrick Ferguson anniversary
Ferguson inherited a club that had not won the league title since 1967. He needed almost seven years to deliver its first championship under him. What followed included 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns.
Carrick said the difficulty of the job has not changed. "It's difficult to bring success. It was difficult then, and it's difficult now," he said. "It just shows you how tough it is to have sustained success, never mind moments of success."
Carrick on building rather than fixing
Asked whether it was realistic for United to be judged against the standards set by Ferguson, Carrick said: "It's not impossible. Anything's possible." He added: "You've got to build. You've got to be realistic, and you've got to put things into perspective as well."
"It's not going to happen in a blink of an eye. It's not going to happen overnight," he said. "Success does take time, and we don't like having to spend time, but it does take a period of time to build."
He set consistency, not a single result, as the benchmark. "But sustaining it is the key. Consistency is the key. There's no other way of doing it, and there are no shortcuts."
On how the game has moved since 1986, Carrick said: "The game has certainly changed, no doubt. It always does." He accepted the comparison with Ferguson will continue. "I understand the comparisons. There's always different things to compare, but we have to live in the present as well and definitely use past experiences to help us."
"Time and patience, but we're all desperate to win football matches and win them as quickly as we possibly can," he said.
Ferguson's influence on Carrick
Carrick said the relationship has changed since his playing career ended. "I'm probably closer to him now and speak to him more than I did when I was playing. I think relationships change over time, and that's only natural."
"Ever since I came here, the impact he had on me as an individual was immense," he said. He described it as "not necessarily directly, in terms of talking all the time or constantly giving advice, but more through the influence he had and the habits you try to pick up from him."
He added: "It's just the impact he's had, and continues to have, on this football club."
Analysis: two clocks on the same job
The anniversary sets a benchmark measured in seasons. The scrutiny on Carrick is measured in matches. Ferguson's first league title arrived almost seven years after his appointment; Carrick's side ended a nine-game winless run this week. The comparison is about time, not results.
What to watch
United face Aston Villa on Sunday in the Premier League, live on Sky, kick-off 4.30pm. Carrick has framed progress as week-to-week performance rather than a single fixture. The Roma result broke the winless run; the Villa match is the next test of whether that response holds.
This report is based on the original from skysports.com.
