Carrick: Everton Disaster Was A One-Off

Michael Carrick has vowed that there would be no more meek surrenders such as we witnessed at Goodison Park on Saturday. The midfielder admitted the level of performance was a shock for the players.

'We were surprised at the performance on Saturday and hugely disappointed with the way the game went,' he said.

'We have had some massive games in the last month and played really well over that period. That is why Saturday was such a shock.

'I suppose we have to look at it as a one-off. We are certainly not getting too down about things. We have to bounce back but the manner of our performances over the past few weeks leads us to believe we can do it again.'

Thing is, though, that talking about lack of self-belief (as Evra did) and 'one-off defeats' means just about nothing. What matters is that we see a response on the pitch on Tuesday. And by response I do not mean a routine 2-0 victory with an energy-saving display - we have to set a high tempo from the start and take the frustration and disappointment out on West Ham.

Desire, commitment, determination - that's what I'm looking for because a run-of-the-mill win will convince nobody that we are serious about winning the title for the fourth time in a row.

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