Michael Carrick commented on controlling the emotions at Manchester United.
The Red Devils, as the fallen giant of the Premier League, have always struggled to stay out of the headlines. But things have been settling down since the return of Carrick as interim head coach, leading the team into third place ahead of Aston Villa and quietening the drama around the club.
“Sometimes, it needs to be calm and a bit stable, and, other times, it needs to be, you know, a little bit on edge and a little bit tetchy and sometimes that brings out the best of you as well. But I mean, yeah, it’s largely been calm in some ways, but actually not calm in the emotion of it, you know, in the feeling of wanting to improve.
“And the boys, the way they're training and obviously the way they've played, you know, you can't be too calm all the time. But I think trying to be measured and calculated, so making good decisions for me and the staff, and obviously for the players as well, I think it's getting that balance right.
“I just kind of go about the work that we do and we make the decisions, we try to set the team up in a way with the right feeling and the right ideas and what we think's right. And, as of late, it's gone well.
“It's a real balance between having the confidence in the group and believing in what we're doing is going to be the right thing but understanding that it doesn't necessarily mean you've cracked it, and getting carried away. So, I'm definitely one for keeping my feet on the ground and understanding that.
“Some of the games have been fantastic and we've managed to play against some good teams and really some top, top coaches and managed to win. But it's always about the next one, really, and never looking back to what we've just achieved.
“Playing here for so long and the experiences have helped me in this situation that I’m in now. For me, that's pretty obvious and I've drawn on those experiences and the feelings of going through moments and what it feels like and how to kind of get through them, what we feel is the best way to get through them. So, without doubt, it's a massive part. That's a massive part why I'm in this position.
“I think there's a time and place [to be angry with the players]. Yeah, obviously we're disappointed at times and disappointed with the result in Newcastle, so there's feelings there, without doubt.
“That's what I'm saying, what I was talking about earlier, being calm and the composure around the place, but it's sport, elite performance, so you've got to play with emotion and feeling and sometimes that is a bit more aggressive. It's a bit more intense sometimes. So, you’ve got to manage that.
“And if I don't manage that, then you can't always expect the players just to create the right emotion. So yeah, certainly it is part of our role.
“Some of the players will be a little bit quieter. It doesn't mean they don't care, they might not show it, but there's something inside. There's a drive, maybe there's a stubbornness at times to want to prove to yourself as much as anything, certainly. And I think anyone, to play at a certain level, you've got to have that. You've got to have that confidence in yourself and that belief to ultimately pull it off.
“But the emotion's part of it. I wouldn't say I've kind of put on a performance, I think I go with how I feel at the time and certain times it's a little bit louder, maybe, sometimes a bit more feeling, other times it's calm. It depends on what the group want and need at certain points as well. And I guess that's the ultimate coaching and managing, really, to get the lads in the right frame of mind.
“I think [arguing] is always a case of performance and getting the best out of each other. I've seen players over the years, where they just kind of argue for the sake of argument to fire them both, they fire each other up, so that there's definitely that. And there's no harm in it. As I said, it's not personal, it’s for the for the good of the team and the good of each other. So, I've got no issue with that at all.”