Man Utd v Aston Villa: Michael Carrick makes Alex Ferguson admission

Michael Carrick insisted it is “not impossible” for Manchester United to live up to the legacy left by Sir Alex Ferguson but admitted he is unlikely to get the sort of time his old boss had to overhaul the club.

It is 40 years since Ferguson took charge at Old Trafford, the start of a 26-year reign which brought 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League titles, including a treble in 1999.

But United, who host Villa on Sunday, have not sustained a serious Premier League title challenge since Ferguson retired in 2013.

Carrick is the latest man struggling to get United back to where they want to be, and is under extreme pressure as his side go into this weekend hovering just above the relegation zone – with the threat of dropping into it before they kick-off at the weekend.

Asked if it was “impossible” for United to live up to the previous standards, Carrick said: “It’s not impossible. Anything’s possible. You’ve got to build, you’ve got to be realistic.

“You’ve got to put things in perspective as well, the recent history that we’ve had and where we want to get to, but it’s not going to happen in a blink of an eye. It’s not going to happen overnight.

“Success does take time, and we don’t like having to spend time, but it does take a period of time to build.”

Ferguson famously struggled early in his reign, having taken over with the club just above the relegation zone, and three years in he faced calls to go with United again at the wrong end of the table.

Mark Robins’ goal in a 1-0 FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest was credited with saving his job as United went on to win the competition, giving Ferguson his first trophy just under four years after taking charge.

Carrick could use that sort of patience now with his United side currently a shadow of the one that finished third last season, but knows the game has moved on – as shown by the rate at which United have dispensed with managers in recent seasons.

“The game’s certainly changed, no doubt,” Carrick said. “It always does. It evolved, and it evolved to the stage probably after Sir Matt (Busby) in the years after that to then Sir Alex. It evolves all the time. That’s how it is.

“It changes. We’ve got to deal with what’s in front of us. That’s why the comparisons I get, I understand it. There’s always different things to compare, but we’ve got to live in the present as well.”

The pressure on Carrick would have been even more intense had they not rallied from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2 in the Champions League in midweek, ending a nine-match winless run.

But United, yet to win successive matches this season, must deliver again against Villa ahead of an international break likely to bring more scrutiny of Carrick’s position.

“We’ve just got to do things better for longer periods…” Carrick said when asked about his team’s failure to build momentum.

“It’s been certain moments, little moments in games that we maybe haven’t been quite ready for, we haven’t made good decisions, or that’s part of football. But we can do that. We can be consistent with it.”