MICHAEL CARRICK SAYS Manchester United must not settle for a fourth-place finish in the Premier League again next season.
In Louis van Gaal’s first campaign in charge at Old Trafford United bounced back from a disappointing seventh-placed finish under David Moyes, which cost the Scot his job less than a year after replacing Sir Alex Ferguson.
United now face a Champions League play-off tie to enter the group stages of the competition, but Carrick believes the club should always be challenging for the title and qualifying automatically.
“It’s an achievement but, listen, it’s not that great,” he said in an interview for the club’s end-of-season review DVD.
“Finishing seventh was a real blip and it was a one-off. This club belongs in the Champions League and we can’t get too carried away with making it because we should be there anyway.
“We’re certainly satisfied in some ways because of last season [the 2013-14 campaign], but next season we want to look up and not be settling for fourth.”
United are set to learn their Champions League play-off opponents on August 7, with the first leg taking place in the week commencing 17 August.
