Michael Carrick Rejects Soft Launch Claims for Manchester United

Michael Carrick has dismissed talk of Manchester United being handed a soft launch to the new Premier League season as “ridiculous”, insisting there will be nothing straightforward about facing back-to-back promoted sides.

United open their campaign on Saturday away at Hull, last season’s Championship play-off winners, before welcoming Ipswich to Old Trafford on 30 August. On paper, it looks gentle. Carrick is having none of it.

The narrative around United has been simple: third place last season, momentum under a new manager, a kind fixture list – so they should fly out of the blocks. Carrick believes that storyline ignores the reality of what awaits his players.

“A newly promoted team away from home is a tough game,” he said, drawing on his own experience of those occasions. He has seen enough of these early-season trips to know they are often laced with danger: a packed stadium, a buoyant fanbase, a side desperate to prove it belongs.

“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 added.

Hull, buoyed by promotion, will treat United’s visit as a statement occasion. Ipswich, back in the top flight and heading to Old Trafford at the end of the month, will arrive with the same mindset. Where others see opportunity for United, Carrick sees potential traps.

“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,” he said, pushing back at the suggestion that his side have been handed an early advantage.

United’s strong finish last season, which sealed third place and helped secure Carrick the job on a permanent basis, has raised expectations. The assumption is that they will simply pick up where they left off.

Carrick’s message is sharper, more grounded: there are no free hits in this league, and certainly not against promoted clubs with something to prove. The real test now is whether his players share that refusal to believe in an easy start.