Carrick has been a serial winner since joining Manchester United from Tottenham in 2006 for £18m.
The veteran midfielder has gone on to complete a clean sweep of trophies and become one of the biggest bargains of all time.
Carrick, who will turn 36 next week, can boast five league titles, Champions League and Europa League medals, three League Cup wins and an FA Cup triumph to boot.
But with the exception of last season, Carrick was forced to endure a barren spell at Old Trafford that pushed him out of the comfort zone.
United have not challenged for the title since Sir Alex Ferguson retired on the back of the club's last championship win in 2013.
The statistic gets on his nerves because Carrick insists that admitting United have not been good enough is difficult to accept.
He said: "The way we've been over the last few years, there's been a lot of change at the club.
"When that happens, sometimes it takes a lot of time for people to find their feet, get settled and adjust.
"Yeah, there have been times in the league when standards have dropped, there's no hiding from that.
"But that doesn't mean you can't get back there again if you keep doing the right things.
"I know we haven't done great in the league, but we've still managed to win things over last couple of years, which I think is important.
"After the FA Cup win, for this new squad, to get that winning feeling is important. You can't underestimate how important that can be.
"We managed to build on that last season and we won again. We won the Europa League the EFL Cup and now we're in the Champions League, which is where we want to be judged and challenging - so that's the next step for us."
Carrick has been named United captain this season and the honour is just reward for someone who is a class act both on and off the pitch.
He would love nothing more than to add another championship medal to his collection and is convinced Jose Mourinho is the man to help United do just this.
Carrick reckons Mourinho is a natural successor to Fergie - a habitual winner driven by the pursuit of trophies and winning at all costs.
He said: "They're quite different personalities, but of course they've both got that drive and desire to win, which is all that matters.
"Everywhere he's been, he's won. He's a winner. He's done it in different ways, his sides have played different styles, but he's always found a way to win.
"Even like last year, we weren't at our best for parts of the season, but we found a way to win trophies. That's the biggest thing I can say about him - he's a winner and his desire and drive to win rubs off on everyone."
United finished in sixth place last season, trailing champions Chelsea by 24 points, but Carrick does not believe the gulf between them is as big as that margin suggests.
He added: "There was a stage midway through the season - it was different towards the end because priorities had shifted to the Europa League - where we felt we should have been right in there challenging for the title.
"Our away form was brilliant and our home form, performance-wise, was really good for large spells, but we just couldn't find the wins.
"We were hammering the door down on teams, but just couldn't find the goals. So our home form needs to improve, certainly results-wise.
"And we need to score more goals, of course. In the end, it looked like we were a fair distance away.
"It may be crazy to say it, but I don't think the gap was as big as it ended up being, but, at the same time, there's a lot of points there for us to make up."
