Before anyone could ask a question at Friday afternoon's press conference ahead of Manchester United's match against Bournemouth, Michael Carrick delivered an emotional address.
Manchester United have made a dreadful start to the season, winning only two of their last eleven matches and sitting 13th in the Premier League. On Wednesday, they lost 4-1 to Como in the Champions League.
With Carrick's position as Manchester United manager under pressure, several British media outlets report that the Englishman still has the club's backing for now. Potential successors are already being considered behind the scenes.
Carrick began: "I'll start today. I just want to say a few things. I think that's important. Things haven't been going well for us recently. I think that's clear. So I fully accept the situation we're in at the moment. We had five months of relative success, a period in which I was pleased with many of the things I saw and that we showed as a team."
The visibly emotional British manager continued: "Recently, we haven't performed well enough. That's clear. We're going through a spell we're really not happy with. Wednesday was a bad night (4-1 against Como, ed.). It was a bad night for many reasons and it hurt a lot. It hurt me, too, to see us play like that, to see how the match unfolded. As I said after the match, it was completely unacceptable for us to play like that."
Turning to the supporters, he continued, visibly emotional: "The supporters are an enormously important part of this football club. For me, it was a difficult moment to see the supporters who had made the effort, invested the time and money to support us on Wednesday, and then felt the way we all felt afterwards. That's clear."
Carrick then addressed his own responsibility: "My responsibility is to put a team on the pitch that represents this football club, that represents the supporters, and that they can be proud of because of the identity we show. Recently, in certain matches, we've strayed from that. I'm fully aware of it and I'm absolutely doing something about it. I think it's important that we all recognise that. I certainly do." That first part of his address lasted six minutes in total.
When Bournemouth visit Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United have a chance to bounce back. The match kicks off at 15:00.