Michael Carrick has been speaking to the media ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Brentford on Monday evening. This is the transcript of the embargoed section of the press conference. For coverage of the first part, click here
The first question was, “I know you’ve been asked a lot about your future. You’ve obviously brought a coaching staff with you as well, and I’m guessing those guys probably want some kind of clarity. They’re all at different stages of their careers. Have you spoken to them or have they spoken to you about what the summer might hold? Do you kind of envisage staying together as a coaching group, or have you had to have chats with them about what might happen this summer?”
“We’re very close even though we came to that together specifically for the role here. We’re all very clear in terms of what it looks like. It’s not something that we need to overly discuss, to be honest. I think we’re all on the same page. We know it, it’s pretty obvious. I keep saying the same things in some ways every week, but it is what it is. We’re all right, we’re fine with that, and the coaches are fine with that.”
The reporter pressed him, saying, “Whatever happens, would you like to carry on working with those guys kind of wherever it might be?”
“Yeah, sometimes you connect with people and you get on and you work together and you work well. And for me, it is all about people, whether that’s players or staff, whatever, supporters, family, whatever it is. I think connecting with people is really important to try and get the best out of each other. And I have to say, the staff have been top class, absolutely top class in different ways, different personalities, different roles. But to come together in a coaching office that’s not much bigger than this table and to be around the desk day in, day out, when it’s new and it’s fresh takes a lot of effort, but credit to everyone. You know, it’s been all but positive, I have to say, since we come together in January.”
“Obviously there’s like a lot of talk about what might happen to the midfield this summer,” the next reporter said, “but just at centre-back, obviously Harry’s obviously signed a new deal, you’ve got two young defenders in Leny and Ayden Heaven. Just on Martinez and De Ligt though, obviously Martinez has made 62 starts in almost four full seasons now, he’s not been on the pitch enough. De Ligt’s been out since late November. Is that potentially, particularly if you end up in the Champions League next year, is that an area of the pitch you might have to look at in the summer, or an area of concern? And can you also just let us know what’s the latest on De Ligt?”
“it’s not an area of concern for me at this moment in time. Again, at the moment and timing-wise, talking about the summer and what goes beyond that, I think it’s difficult to elaborate on that really. Licha’s actually missing games for a different reason at the minute, which I don’t know, we won’t go into, but I understand why you’re asking it.”
“But no, no, I haven’t got concerns. I think we’ve got a mixed blend there of experience, of real quality, and some young, I’d say more than talent really, two promising young players that have already shown what they can do. I thought Ayden was fantastic last week. And in such a difficult game. So I haven’t got concerns as I sit here what the future looks like. I can’t really get involved because I’m not sure myself what that looks like. But, and in terms of Matta, he’s working towards being fit again, really, you know, he’s doing a little bit on the grass and it’s progress, but it’s one of those injuries and it’s rehab and he’s working to get fit. So we’re hopeful to have him back as soon as possible, really.”
“He’s back on the grass at the moment in a small capacity, but he’s working towards it, so that’s positive. So yeah, we’re all hoping that it keeps going in that direction.”
“Jumped ahead quite quick there, aren’t you?” he joked. “Well, we’re living in the moment. We want to be there, right? Of course we want to be there, but, um, we’re not getting too ahead of it both ways, you know, and we understand as things can go right, things can not go to plan. So we know where we are. Last week was a big result for us to put us in the position that we are, but nothing’s done yet.”
The next reporter asked, “With regard to your scorers, you haven’t yet got anyone with double figures Premier League, but you have got three or four, well, I think it’s five players, on nine or eight. Does it matter not to have a scorer, I don’t know, of mid-teens, high teens? Does it really matter, or would you like to have by the end of the season an 18 or 20 goal Premier League person?”
“There’s different ways to look at it sometimes, to have one and scoring an awful lot of goals certainly can help in some ways, but then not relying so much, not expecting one player to just produce the goals being able to share it is a good thing. It is a good thing that everyone’s capable of doing it and chipping in. At some point someone hits a bit of form and a purple patch and has big moments, it comes around a little bit. I think we’ve got good flexibility within the team for that, whether that’s set plays, whether that’s transitions, whether that’s in and around the box, we feel like we’ve got a good mix. So I’m okay with that. We’d like to score more goals, of course we would. We’d like to concede less goals. Football, right? But I think the balance that we’ve got and sharing the load is a good thing.”
The MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst asked, “I don’t know if you noticed that the VAR in the City-Arsenal game at the weekend was the same as your game against Leeds last week, where he’s deemed Lisandro’s minor hair pull to be a red card, but Gabriel’s headbutt on Haaland wasn’t deemed to be a red card, and it feels like most people thought he should have been sent off. Is that another incident where it’s particularly frustrating for you, where there’s that inconsistency?”
The boss replied, “I don’t want to comment on other games, and other teams and other individuals. I don’t think it’s right for me to get involved in that. I do think there’s been some instances that have made it more difficult to understand how Licha is suspended and continues to be.”
“The Calvin Bassey incident last week?,” he was asked.
“There’s other instances, yeah,” Carrick admitted. “I don’t want to get involved in it. I don’t think it’s fair for me to comment on other teams, genuinely, but when you see all the other things in and around it for the offence that was allegedly committed and the punishment that’s come with that, I don’t think it fits it at all. I find it hard to understand, I have to say.”
“And just on a separate note,” Luckhurst continued, “this is going to be the seventh evening game you’ve managed out of 13. The club have had a lot of evening kick-offs this season. Do you sympathise with match-goers? I know the club aren’t in Europe, but does it feel like there have been too many of them, particularly given the travelling support the club have and the amount of people who go to home games?”
“Yeah, I totally understand the difficulty of getting to games at times and for different reasons, for transport, for purely on timings and throughout the week. I understand that it’s not something that we can always control, but, and this season and certainly since I’ve been here, the schedule has been a little bit unique in some ways. So, but I totally sympathise with the supporters. I have to say the support last week at Chelsea was special in the moments like that, and hopefully they enjoyed that. They seemed to, and we did certainly. So we’d like a little bit more of that. But yeah, without doubt, there’s a lot of sympathy for the supporters and the effort and everything that they have to give us to get to games.”
The next question was, “Just on De Ligt, it’s a difficult one because you’re not quite sure what’s going to happen with him, but given there’s only five games left now, is it fair to say that he won’t play again this season?”
“I wouldn’t say not at all, no,” the boss responded. “I’d like to think, or we certainly hope, that there’s a chance that he can without putting any pressure on it or deadlines on it. Of course, it’s something that we’re working towards and he’s working towards as well, so hopefully it’s the case, but there’s certainly no pressure to get him back. He needs to come back at the right time when he’s ready.”