Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has been speaking to the media ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to face Everton in the Premier League.
Here is every word of the press conference.
Transfer window
The first question was whether transfer deadline day had left Carrick feeling “a little light at left-back”.
Carrick replied:
“W went into the window wanting to come out stronger. from the group that we had last season, and we’ve definitely added to that. I think we’ve done a lot of good work in that respect and the situation is what it is in terms of finances and what we can work with and what we’re trying to get the most of.”
“Certainly the players that we’ve brought into the group, I’m delighted with, absolutely delighted with, and I think we’ve done some really good business there, and for the quality and the level of player that we’ve got, I’m really, really happy with that. You can always look at it and there’s other things you can do or could have done, possibly could have done. Some things come available, some don’t. That’s just part of evolving the group and trying to push all the time. And we obviously had certain things that we needed to fill and try and improve the group. And I think largely, we’re in a good place.”
“We’ve got pretty good balance within the whole squad. Dynamics, strengths, kind of what we might need in certain games. So we’ve got players that are flexible as well throughout the whole team that can play in different positions as and when and if we need it. So I think as you go through a season, you always need that. So yeah, largely pretty happy.”
On Benjamin Sesko
The next reporter noted that Sesko “scored the winner in this fixture against Everton last season. He’s obviously missed a lot of football in terms of preseason this year. I just wonder, how has he been over the summer managing that shin injury and how raring is he to kind of start getting more minutes under the belt?”
Carrick answered:
“Yeah, Ben, he’s improving his fitness all the time. He had some time off, which was important that we give him the time to make sure it was right moving forward and no setbacks and give us— you can never guarantee that, but, give us and Ben himself the chance to stay fit for as long as possible.”
“And he made big strides last season and he’s still young, he’s still kind of adapting to a point and learning and developing here. So there’s loads more to come from Ben. So just being patient with him really and looking after him as well. And letting him grow into the season. Really happy with how he’s come back, so looking forward to seeing him on the pitch a little bit more.”
Midfield deployment
“Michael, just, you mentioned about balance before,” the next reporter started. “You have brought in three midfield players. Is it as straightforward as saying whichever game suits two or three of those players, they will play? Because a lot of people from the outside might look at it and think you spent £70 million on Baleba, so he’s got to play, and then Tielemans fits in with Bruno, so they’ve got to play, and that Kobbie played really well at the weekend. How does it work in terms of the actual balance and picking who plays in each game?”
The manager responded:
“Sounds like you’re in our coach’s office trying to pick the team. No, listen, I hope everyone stays fit and 100% available all through the season, but we’re not just putting a squad together for one game on Sunday. We need a squad that’s going to take us through the whole season. And to have them options, sometimes it’s to change during the game, sometimes it’s maybe game to game, sometimes it’s you play every three, four days.”
“There’s a whole picture in there that we need to balance and we need to get that right. And whoever plays in there, I’m talking about adding to the squad and feeling that we’ve got different partnerships and combinations that we can rely on. So it’s certainly not just week by week, it’s the longer term and what we’re going to need to get us through the season with unfortunate injuries or suspensions or whatever may come. We’ve got to be able to get through that and stay strong. And as it stands at the moment, we’ve got a really strong group and hopefully everyone stays fit for as long as possible.”
Back to the transfer window
Carrick was then asked “you mentioned about finances in your previous answer. In a summer where Tottenham and Man City and Chelsea and clubs have spent a lot of money, people might say, why is the Manchester United manager talking about finances and restrictions in terms of who you can bring in?”
He replied:
“I didn’t say restrictions, I’m just saying that’s the situation that we have. I’m not talking about the amount. I think whatever the amount is, you want to make the most of it, and whatever you spend, you want to make the most of it. And I think for what we’ve spent, we’ve certainly made the most of it without a shadow of a doubt, and if not even more than that because of the players that we’ve brought in. I only focus on ourselves and what we can do and maximising everything we can do, and I think we’ve done that.”
Does he think he has enough depth in all areas to do that?
The manager replied:
“I just think that what squad’s ever the perfect squad? You’ve always got to find ways of adapting, and when you’re building and trying to push to, as going through a period where we’re trying to get to the top, that’s the ultimate goal. You’ve got to make steps, it’s not going to be one hit where everything is — and I’m not just talking about players individually, I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about the whole thing of improving as a group, improving of a squad. It’s not just all an instant fix and you finish top of the league and you stay there.”
“So there’s a whole kind of road that we’ve got to go down with that and making sure that we keep improving. And in the end, we want to be getting to where we want to be. So there’s always things that you might suggest, sometimes it’s something that we keep to ourselves, but there’s always things that we’re looking at and trying to improve and improve players and individual players in the units within the team to make the team and the squad better.”
On Joshua Zirkzee
The next reporter asked about Joshua Zirkzee. “Obviously there was a late bid from Everton for him. There was speculation, throughout the window, a lot of people expected him to have left by now. Do you see him as an important member of the squad? Is he happy? Will he be involved this weekend?”
Carrick replied:
“Yeah, for sure. Josh is important. I think, again, it’s the team, the squad, the depth, the whole season. Josh is happy here and I have a really good relationship with Josh anyway. He wants to play more than he has done, and that’s good, the competition and healthy competition for places. A lot of games coming up even in the next couple of weeks, we’ve got a shorter period between games. And so yeah, for sure, Josh, Josh can do some really, really top things, and I’ve seen it myself and I know he can do that and looking forward to him doing that a little bit more often for us.”
Patrick Dorgu’s position
The following question concerned Patrick Dorgu. “Predominantly you’ve used him as a left winger, or almost exclusively used him as a left winger during your time in charge. Obviously previously in his career he has played at left back, which is not something you’ve done as much. Is there a reason for that? Is there something that you need to see in him? Do you see him longer term in that position? How do you see his development?”
The boss replied:
“He can certainly play there, he has done that without doubt. I’m not sitting here saying he can’t do that, it’s just the way we’ve been since I’ve been here. He actually has been injured for, unfortunately, for some time, so you could almost argue, what, he played 3 or 4 times for us last season, so he’s almost like a new player to have and he’s almost like a new signing in some ways because he’s added so much to the group.”
“And again, that group where he can play, he’s played off the right for Denmark, scored a great goal in the summer playing off the right in a forward position. He can play left-back. He’s that type where he can do a number of things. I’m certainly not saying he can’t do that at all. It’s something he can. We just haven’t had to explore that. At some point we might have to. At some point he might do that. He can do that absolutely no problem. So there’s times in training when he does it. And then he’s only young, being such a young age and having the attributes that he’s got. We’ve just got to keep trying to get the most out of him.”
Sunday’s opponents
The last question of this section was about Sunday’s opponents. Carrick was asked “What do you make of the shape that they’re in?”
He answered:
“To be honest, however long I’ve been going to Everton, and I know it was Goodison before, every single game has been as tough as they come. So we’ve had some good results, we’ve had some not so good results, and last year epitomises how hard it was and how much we had to give to get the results. So whatever position they’re in, wherever they are in the league, historically whenever I’ve gone there it’s been tough, whatever state they’re in. And David [Moyes] is a terrific manager and they’ve got a good squad. They’ve got some talent in that group and some very, very good attacking players as well. So we’re expecting as tough a game as it gets when we go there and we’ll prepare for that.”
That concluded this part of the presser. The embargoed section of the press conference will be released at 10.30pm on Saturday and will be available here shortly afterward.
Featured image by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
