📅 October 16, 2026
Carrick’s Leeds Press Conference: “It’s Not About Me” and a Squad “Better Than I’ve Seen It”
Watch the video version of this story On @mavjonesdotcom, in about a minute. ▶ Play on TikTok
Michael Carrick used Friday’s press conference to make one argument several ways: the Lisandro MartĂnez row has pulled his squad together, and his own job isn’t the story. “The squad today was in a fantastic place, better than I’ve seen it for a while, actually,” he said, two days before United go to Leeds.
The apology, the meeting and MartĂnez’s place in the squad were covered this morning. This is the rest of it: the exchange that turned testy, the question about his future, Jason Wilcox, Amad and Elland Road.
▶ Follow @mavjonesdotcom on TikTok
“You do not believe me, no?”
A reporter said he’d take the training report at face value, then started to ask how. Carrick cut in: “I’m telling you the truth.” A beat later: “You do not believe me, no?”
The question underneath was a fair one. MartĂnez apologised for when he spoke, not for what he said, and plenty of fans and former players agree with him. Carrick didn’t move. “Just because people talk from the outside, that doesn’t mean that’s the truth. I’m telling you the truth, the squad today was in a fantastic place, better than I’ve seen it for a while, actually.” ESPN and Sportskeeda carry the same answer.
He gave ground on the timing and none on the effect. Something said at the wrong moment “doesn’t distract us from what we’re creating here and the environment and the spirit within the group,” he said. “It’s not affected. I’m telling you.”
“It’s not about me”
United go to Elland Road on a run of five games without a win, and he was asked whether he personally needs results. He didn’t let the question finish. “I don’t need results. I don’t need results. We all need results. It’s not about me.”
He kept going. “Manchester United is a lot bigger than any individual. It’s bigger than me, bigger than any player, it’s anyone else who works at this football club.” And the line he finished on: “Whatever’s best for the football club and for the team on Sunday is the most important thing.” ESPN quotes the same answer.
Madrid as the evidence
Wayne Rooney said after the game that an interview like MartĂnez’s can rip a dressing room apart. Asked whether it could do the opposite, Carrick pointed at the match rather than the interview. AtlĂ©tico scored in the first minute, and he said the way United responded “shows there’s an underlying kind of belief and spirit, and a collectiveness really within the group.”
Then the line ESPN led on. “Certain situations, it can galvanise the group, and it’s certainly galvanised the group as this week’s progressed.” He also said Friday’s session was one of the better ones they’ve had and that there’s “a freshness about the group today, which I really liked,” a line 101 Great Goals also reported.
Wilcox and Amad
The apology came up again, because it doesn’t mention Wilcox. Would a fuller one have been better? Carrick said MartĂnez has “realised he’s made a mistake” and “I think that’s enough for all of us to move on with.” Sports Mole has the same words.
Should Wilcox speak more? The reporter pointed out they’ve never heard from him. “I don’t think that’s for me to say,” Carrick said. “We’re a really tight-knit group. So I’m happy to face anything that you want to ask me.”
Amad’s social media post from this week came up too. Carrick framed it the same way as MartĂnez: it shows the players care, “but yeah, of course, there is ways of doing it,” and they have to “channel it in the right manner.”
Leeds and Elland Road
On Daniel Farke he was generous. “I think Daniel’s doing a fantastic job,” he said, crediting Farke, his staff and the players “because they’ve done it over quite a long period of time now.”
He’s managed at Elland Road with Middlesbrough and knows what Sunday brings. “It brings an intensity. It’s a fantastic atmosphere, and there’ll be a little bit extra again on Sunday against us.” The last meeting explains why: Leeds won 2-1 at Old Trafford in April, their first league win there since 1981, and MartĂnez was sent off for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair, per The42 and beIN Sports.
Kick-off is 2pm UK time on Sunday, 9am ET. MartĂnez is in the squad. Whether he starts is the first real test of “it’s done.”
▶ Follow @mavjonesdotcom on TikTok
Sources: All quotes from The Peoples Person’s transcript (16 Oct 2026). Matched elsewhere: “fantastic place”, “telling you the truth”, “not about me”, “bigger than any individual” and “galvanise” by ESPN (Rob Dawson, 16 Oct 2026); “fantastic place” and “not affected” by Sportskeeda (16 Oct 2026); “realised he’s made a mistake” and “tight-knit group” by Sports Mole (16 Oct 2026); “freshness” by 101 Great Goals (16 Oct 2026). The “You do not believe me” exchange and the Wilcox, Amad, Farke and Elland Road answers come from the transcript only. Five games without a win from ESPN and our own results record; Rooney’s “rip the dressing room apart” from ESPN. The April result, the 1981 record and the red card from The42 and beIN Sports (13-14 Apr 2026); kick-off from Sports Mole and our fixture list. Left out: the “ex-pros” line, which outlets word differently, and Sports Mole’s league position and record claims, which we haven’t checked against a second source.