Michael Carrick will be looking to make it three wins in a row as Man Utd head coach when his side face Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick has called Fulham the biggest challenge of his time in charge at United so far
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Manchester United players could be forgiven for floating on cloud nine this week, after securing back-to-backs win against the Premier League's top two in Michael Carrick's first two games in charge. The wins against Manchester City and Arsenal have thrust them back into fourth and lifted the mood at Carrington.
The impressive aspect of both victories was that United were the better team on derby day and at the Emirates, with no good fortune required in their 2-0 win against City and the 3-2 victory at Arsenal. But there is acceptance that Fulham's visit this weekend is a very different challenge.
But Carrick and his coaching staff have been doing all they can to make sure minds are focused on what to expect on Sunday, and the 44-year-old revealed that the focus in training had gone up a level since the win in North London, with United determined to maintain the momentum they have generated in the final weeks of January.
"In terms of what I've seen, the reaction from the last game, coming back into the training and the focus, if anything, it's gone up even more," said Carrick.
"The intensity in the training is at a very, very good level. So that's all I can ask, to keep building and improving and taking it into the game."
Carrick has been note-perfect so far in two of United's biggest games of the season, but he actually sees the clash with Marco Silva's in-form Fulham as the biggest test since he returned to the club as head coach.
United have struggled at home against teams they are expected to beat recently, losing to Everton and dropping points against Bournemouth, West Ham and Wolves.
But Carrick insists the focus on how to prepare a game plan to face Fulham has been exactly the same as before City and Arsenal, and that the focus of himself and his coaching staff hasn't wavered.
"I certainly understand what has gone before. Not to speak about that, because it's not for me to talk about that," Carrick said of United's recent Old Trafford record.
"We understand what it's going to take, and what it has taken to get results in. With Marco and Fulham as a team, I think it's as big, if not bigger, a test as what we've had. So it's really not a case of looking at this as any different. It's another game in front of us.
"We've got to put so many things in place and carry the emotion and the intensity and everything that goes into whatever game we play and show the utmost respect to any team. So we're playing at home, we're playing against Fulham. It's no different for me. It really can't be any different."
Carrick is also preparing his team to be adaptable. While it is likely United will dominate possession and have to break the visitors down, he wants his team to be prepared if things don't go their way or the look of the game changes.
"We've got to face the game in front of us, play the game, however it develops," he said. "We might play well, we might be on top, we might have to defend, we might be up against it, we might go up, we might go down.
"But that's something that's just going into the game with anything else from being prepared to do whatever it takes and understanding adds a real, real challenge. They're on a great run. They're not far behind us in the league. They're there for a reason. It's a big challenge for us."
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