Michael Carrick reveals he asked England not to pick him after becoming depressed
Carrick says he was aware of the fantastic opportunity presented to him, but just wasn’t able to cope with playing for the national team
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Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has revealed that his experience with England in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa left him feeling depressed.
The now 36-year-old made 34 appearances for the Three Lions but did not go to another major tournament after the World Cup.
England crashed out of the tournament following a 4-1 defeat to Germany and Carrick admitted to BBC2’s Premier League show that the experience left him not wanting to play for the national team again.
He said: "I'd been in the squad a long time and I'll be honest, I was finding it hard going away with England.
"I didn't mind going away with United pre-season for three weeks or whatever and coming back, but going with England, it was almost depressing in a way.
"It made me really down, so I came to the point after South Africa where I thought, 'I can't do that again'.
Carrick, who will be retiring at the end of the season to join the United coaching staff, says he was aware of the fantastic opportunity presented to him, but just wasn’t able to cope with playing for the national team.
"People would be saying, 'Pull yourself together and be grateful for it' and I understood the position I was in, the privileged position I was in, but I just found it so hard and I couldn't deal with it any more.
"I was probably on the verge of... yes, I was depressed at times, yes. I told the FA, 'Look, please don't pick me'."
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