Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has rejected the notion that the Old Trafford club are unmanageable.
Carrick is under pressure after a run of seven games without a win ahead of Sunday's Premier League home match against Bournemouth (14:00 GMT).
The scrutiny on him has intensified following critical comments from senior players Lisandro Martinez and Bruno Fernandes, who questioned the club's recruitment and his tactics.
If Carrick were to be dismissed, it would mark the third managerial change in as many seasons and mean eight long-term managers, including Ralf Rangnick, have lost their jobs since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
With pressure heightened by the number of prominent ex-players running their own media outlets and the proliferation of fan channels drawing large audiences, some argue United is an impossible club to manage.
Carrick's response to that notion was a single word: "No."
However, Carrick does dispute some of the claims made about his team by former professionals and casual observers.
He is particularly frustrated by suggestions that his team do not run enough or press the opposition when out of possession.
Carrick acknowledged that his team's overall performance in Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como was "unacceptable."
But he does not believe claims that his team do not press stand up to scrutiny.
"You've got to be careful with just saying 'not running'," he said.
"We've won a lot of games over a period of time and this pressing thing; pressing is one small part of football.
"There are all sorts of different ways that are classed as a press. What actually is it? What are you doing it for? Is it to your strength? Is it covering up other spaces?
"It's just thrown about as a bit of a word at the minute. You don't necessarily need to press to win games of football. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't.
"It's not necessarily just running stats that define football games either.
"We've just got to get back to doing a lot of the things that we were doing last season and for certain parts of this season."
Carrick close to Sir Alex and Solskjaer
Although Carrick was appointed as Ruben Amorim's replacement in January ahead of his former boss and team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the pair remain close.
Solskjaer drove to United's base in Trondheim before the pre-season victory over Rosenborg in July to spend time with Carrick and his backroom team.
They have been in contact this week, and Carrick also confirmed he had spoken to Ferguson, a regular at matches as he approaches his 85th birthday.
Ferguson signed Carrick from Tottenham in 2006 and also managed the midfielder's Manchester United team in his testimonial at Old Trafford in 2017.
"I speak to both of them quite regularly," he said. "There's nothing particular in that. I'm close to both of them. It's nothing different this week."
Carrick is convinced he can turn the situation around but knows his underperforming squad must deliver against Bournemouth.
"I definitely trust them, 100%," he said.
"We'll be a different team on Sunday. We have to be a different team on Sunday."
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