“Everyone is against us”: United super-sub explains how Carrick has brought back siege mentality

Manchester United are showing no signs of slowing down under caretaker head coach Michael Carrick. After last weekend’s memorable Manchester derby win, this time, the Red Devils saw off Arsenal 3-2 at their home ground. On Sunday, the Gunners conceded three goals for the first time in 121 games, while the visitors notched their first win at the Emirates Stadium since 2017. It was the home side who took the lead before the half-hour mark, but unlike under former head coach Ruben Amorim, this United side did not back down. Late winner thanks to Matheus Cunha The equalised before half-time, and subsequently, took the lead through a stunner from Patrick Dorgu. But when the hosts equalised in the 84th minute, the away fans must have feared the worst. Unlike his predecessor, Carrick did not throw in the towel and try to manage the game, he instructed the players to go for the jugular and substitute Matheus Cunha popped up to score a brilliant winner. The Brazilian has now positively impacted consecutive games from the bench. First it was his assist against Manchester City, and now, the winner against Mikel Arteta’s side. He was asked whether he was happy with this super-sub role under Carrick, to which the former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward told Sky Sports, “I know the quality of the group, everyone has the quality to play, everyone wants to play, of course. Super-sub role “But yeah, the important decision is to help the team, come here, every single minute that you have is to give everything to help this team, to help the teammates.” On whether this was his best moment in a United shirt, Matheus Cunha said, “100 per cent [greatest moment in the shirt]. These kind of games are the games we dreamed of playing. “When I come to United, these are the games we watched on television. This is one of the best moments for me here.” The 26-year-old was asked about Carrick’s impact since coming in, to which he told BBC, “He knows the feeling, he played here so many years. On Carrick “He knows the feeling for Manchester, he knows the feeling for United. He knows how the fans want to feel and he tried to show us every single moment, he tried to talk us to understand in moments and say ‘everyone is against us’, so I think we feel more together.” Winning away at the league leaders showed what an unit Carrick is building, hopefully, United can continue their impressive run next week when Fulham come to town. Feature image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25