When Michael Carrick celebrated his return to Old Trafford in January with back-to-back wins against Manchester City and Arsenal, the message from the head coach was calm and consistent. ‘Nobody is getting carried away,’ was Carrick’s mantra at the time.So he was never likely to have a public meltdown at the MKM Stadium on Saturday after Manchester United suffered a shocking defeat at Hull City, losing to a newly-promoted team on the opening weekend for the first time in the club’s history.As bad as the result and United’s performance were, Carrick’s approach remained the same as it was seven months ago. Calm down, it’s just one game.He is right, of course, but Carrick has also been around United long enough to know that you are only ever one game from a crisis.Lose to Ipswich in United’s first home game of the season on Sunday, and Carrick’s softly softly approach will be drowned out by the alarm bells ringing around Old Trafford.The 45-year-old’s placid exterior has always masked his real emotions, first as a player and now as a coach. At United, his calm demeanour and measured approach have been a welcome antidote to the emotional incontinence and public self-flagellation of his emotional predecessor Ruben Amorim. Michael Carrick exuded calmness despite seeing Manchester United lose 2-0 at Hull City The 45-year-old hides his emotions a lot better than his United predecessor Ruben AmorimNobody who knows Carrick would doubt the competitive edge and hunger to win that was seared into the heart of all Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams – and which he must imbue into the squad that surrendered so tamely on Humberside.The players certainly got the message after Carrick suffered his first defeat in charge at Newcastle in March, but the manner of their capitulation to Hull has raised fresh concerns over the ability of this group to build on what he achieved in the second half of last season after replacing Amorim.Managers react differently to defeat. Erik ten Hag took his players on a 13.8km run the day after United lost their first away game of the season 4-0 at Brentford in 2022 to make up for the overall distance they had lagged behind their opponents – a result just as shocking as this defeat at Hull. Amorim damaged a TV during a dressing-room rant after his team lost at home to Brighton in January last year.The challenge for Carrick this week is to strike the right balance. He is the last man to press the panic button – certainly after one game – but he also has to make it abundantly clear to the players and supporters that Manchester United losing to Hull City is not acceptable.At the MKM Stadium, he was asked if the cool-headed approach that has served him so well thus far might actually be viewed negatively by fans expecting a few choice words from their head coach.’I know there’s a lot goes on outside of our football club, yeah,’ Carrick said with a smile. ‘I understand. I understand the responsibility I’ve got, but it doesn’t make me do things differently just because of that.’I’m talking to you quite calmly, but I’m not exactly calm inside and enjoying the day, you know? So there’s a big difference. I played here for a long time. You don’t get to play here for a long time without just going day by day, the results, the ups and downs, but you just carry on as normal. It’s 100 per cent not that, trust me.’It just doesn’t mean that we all have to shout and scream and create some chaos just because of it. Inside we’re hurting. The boys know, and we need to get better. But the calmness doesn’t mean that there’s no emotion in it, for sure.’It’s not a nice feeling at all. It doesn’t mean it’s going to change the direction of how we’re going as a team or as a football club. It’s one game and results can happen in football, we all understand that. It’s not nice when they do, but it does happen. We can be better, and we will be better.’ Reflecting post-match, Carrick insisted that his side know they have to be better after losing Youri Tielemans was worryingly ineffective in midfield for Manchester United on his debutUnited couldn’t be much worse, in fairness, but at least Carrick will have a stronger squad available against Ipswich.Carlos Baleba won’t be available once his £70million move from Brighton goes through due to an ankle injury, but Kobbie Mainoo will have benefitted from another appearance off the bench at Hull, and Mason Mount could be fit again after impressing in pre-season until he was injured in the friendly against Paris Saint-Germain.The two midfielders United have already bought for a total of £85m so far this summer, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, were worryingly ineffective at Hull.The minor nature of the injury Amad Diallo suffered in training late last week suggests he could return on the right flank, potentially releasing Bryan Mbeumo to play through the middle again after Matheus Cunha struggled there on Saturday. Benjamin Sesko is another option after making his first appearance of the summer off the bench due to a shin problem.Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot could also return to the line-up after another week of training following their late return from the World Cup, in place of Ayden Heaven – who struggled against Hull’s combative striker Oli McBurnie – and Noussair Mazraoui.Carrick has no shortage of options. He just has to get the balance right on and off the pitch.