Boro‘s head coach was reflecting on the campaign so far, how his side have performed and how he’d like them to look.
Carrick wants his side to play a certain way, that has been crystal clear during his time in charge on Teesside, but how it looks, says Boro’s boss, is never more important than the outcome.
But the problem for Carrick right now is his side aren’t winning. Well, nowhere near enough anyway. Just two in their last 10, in fact, prior to Saturday’s visit of Watford, a huge game for Boro on the back of three successive defeats.
With that form in mind, then, and, in particular, the manner of the defeats and the shambolic defensive showings, is it time for Carrick to make some drastic changes? Does he have to find a short-term fix to ensure the longer-term aim of promotion remains realistic?
“There’s always a short term fix to find a way of winning the next game,” he said when that question was put to him at his press conference on Thursday.
“We don’t just assume there’s only one way and that doesn’t change. There’s always ways to try and change and tweak things.
“There are times we’ve built up from the back and passed it short from the goalkeeper and worked our way through the pitch, there are times when we’ve gone longer. There’s always different ways.
“It might not be as obvious to the eye at times but there’s always different ways of pressing, defending around the box and we have to find the right balance.”
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Finding the balance between attack and defence has been a problem all season for Carrick and Boro.
“That’s the name of the game,” he said.
“We’ve had certain times during the season where we’ve kept clean sheets but nowhere near enough recently. There’s balance, there’s things within games, there’s positioning or individual things to do to prevent that.
“Decision making is a big part as well and helping the boys with that in the right moment.”
What, in Carrick’s eyes, are the problems that need fixing?
“Conceding goals in moments is something we definitely need to do something about, that’s quite obvious,” he said.
But if he hasn’t been able to solve those problems in 31 games, what gives him the belief he’ll be able to find a solution now?
“That’s what keeps us going, we have to find the answers and the answers are there,” he said.
“I fully believe we’re capable of doing it. We’re not doing it, we haven’t done it enough but I fully believe the answers are there and we’ll find them.”
How will he find them?
“That’s like saying how do you do anything,” he replied.
“It’s what we see, the information we pass on, the work we do with the players constantly.
“That’s just part of coaching. That’s why I take the responsibility for whatever little thing happens in a game, it lands with me and I fully accept that.”
Despite the recent struggle and slide down the table, Carrick still believes his way is the right way.
“100 per cent and that’s not me being blase,” he said.
“We have to make it work and I’m fully aware of that. But there’s ways of doing that and being better than we are and adapting and being flexible.
“My ego doesn’t say that’s the only way. I’m constantly looking for different ways and that’s something I’m happy to say.
“If we need to tweak certain things we will, whether it’s position or tactical. It’s something we’ve done before and we’ll do it again if we feel it’s the right thing to do.
“We’ve done things differently throughout the season. We haven’t done the exact copy and paste throughout the season. It’s how we work and we’ll be constantly assessing that and evolving as we go.”
