Carrick Rejects ‘Favourable’ Start Talk Ahead of Hull Match

Michael Carrick is having none of it.

Suggestions that Manchester United have been handed a soft launch to the new Premier League season drew a sharp response from the head coach, who branded the idea “ridiculous” as his side prepare for their opener at Hull on Saturday.

United begin away to the Championship play-off winners before welcoming Ipswich, another newly promoted club, to Old Trafford on 30 August. On paper, it has prompted a familiar line: two newcomers, a chance to build early momentum, and an opportunity to extend the surge that carried United to third place last season and earned Carrick the job on a permanent basis.

Carrick sees a trap in that kind of thinking.

“A newly promoted team away from home is a tough game,” he said, underlining the edge he expects at the MKM Stadium. “I've been involved in them in the past so I'm fully aware of what's coming at us on Saturday and what we've got to be ready for.”

He pushed back hard at the narrative that United have been blessed by the fixture list.

“It's not favourable. It's an easy thing to throw out there but it's pretty ridiculous. I'm not taking it that way at all.”

Carrick’s stance is clear: treat Hull and Ipswich as anything less than hardened Premier League opponents, and United’s season could be jolted before it even settles into rhythm.