After leading his team to a 0-1 home defeat against Manchester City in the Manchester Derby Premier League match, Manchester United manager Michael Carrick attended the press conference.

Good evening, Michael, I'd like to start with that goal. I mean, how surprised were you when the referee initially allowed it?

To be honest, I didn't have a full view of the whole incident at the time. But listen, the explanation I received was essentially that the opposing player didn't interfere with play. I really don't understand it, I really can't comprehend it at all. Simply don't get it. On one hand, we're trying to help the referees by putting so many layers of protection behind them, organising so many staff, equipping so many monitoring screens, no matter which VAR office they're in, all to try to make the correct decision.

But if the rule is interpreted as "no interference with play"—even when a player is running towards the ball just six yards from goal and almost touches it, causing the defender to react—and additionally, the initial offside line drawn was highly questionable. If the referees officiating really see the sport this way, then it's genuinely very concerning.

Did you have any further communication with the referee afterwards?

No, I think it's better not to say anything more.

Michael, I know that goal was a key moment in the game, but how do you feel about your team's overall performance? Especially after Phil Foden was sent off with a red card, did you feel you didn't take control of the game as expected?

I think we did take control, yes, I think we had good control, especially in the second half. Coming out for the second half, before they scored, I thought we played better, I thought we improved from the end of the first half. After the restart, we gained momentum, and we even hit the crossbar, and the game was developing exactly as we expected. However, then that goal obviously dealt us a huge blow. After that, we could have closed out the game better, we could have been more creative, we could definitely have handled the end of the game better. But overall, I think we started the second half very well.

Michael, will you seek a more reasonable explanation from the Professional Game Match Officials Limited?

I don't know how to seek it, and I don't know who else to talk to. For that decision, I really don't know how to get another explanation. Honestly, sometimes we see them come out to explain or apologise, and yes, that's great, I can't wait for that apology!

Players mentioned in post-match interviews that referees visit clubs before the season to explain the rules, but perhaps the rules applied on the pitch don't match the rules explained to the players. What are your thoughts on that?

I think everyone, all of us, really, understand what that rule means, because it's very obvious, very clear, so I don't think there's any ambiguity about it. This isn't a fine-tuning of rule details—sometimes rules have minor changes that you only hear about in meetings, and the general public can sometimes get confused. But for this decision, I think the facts are as clear as day.

Do you think this affected your players afterwards? Because the players would feel it was an unfair decision, and I imagine it would be quite difficult to overcome that mentality during the game, with half an hour still to play?

Yes, but that's part of the game, it's really part of football. You have to react, you have to deal with it and adjust your mentality. So yes, that factor exists, and there's no doubt it had a significant impact.

After that, it seemed the players took a long time to regain their rhythm and creativity, and only Bruno created that chance at the end. Do you think that was down to the substitutions? Can you elaborate?

Honestly, in terms of creating chances and goals, in all the games we've won, we've scored at least two goals in each, and we also scored in a game we lost before, so this is the first time we haven't scored, and I think there should be some context here. For whatever reason, you're always going to find a game where you simply don't score. So I can't be too hard on the players, because we have many excellent and creative players who have scored and created chances many times before. So if we look purely at this game, yes, of course we want the team as a whole to perform better, we really wanted to score today, but unfortunately we couldn't.

Following on from that, did you consider bringing on Mateo Kovačević earlier to provide a focal point up front? I noticed that 10 of your 16 shots were from outside the box. I know sometimes opponents force you to shoot from distance, but those seemed like low-probability long-range efforts...

I think that's part of the process of creating offensively. As I just said, I can't be too hard on the players, I won't, because I think we did an excellent job offensively, especially in that area. The issue is we just didn't find what we needed today.

My last question isn't about the game itself. Before the match, many fans protested, especially season ticket holders who feel aggrieved, particularly regarding measures to combat ticket touting and empty seats. There's a general concern about the relationship between the club and supporters. Do you have anything to say to them? Do you understand their frustration?

Yes, listen, regarding all the specific details behind this, I don't always have the full details of everything. But I absolutely appreciate and value the fans. If they feel this way about certain aspects, then of course we want to do everything we can to address their concerns. This includes our performance on the pitch, and also communication off the pitch, that's obvious. The fans are an extremely important part of this club, they are everything to this club. So after losing the game today, I feel very bad for them. I never take the fans' support for granted, I mention it often, it means a lot to me, so today I feel really bad for them.

Is the upcoming international break a good opportunity? Can it give you a chance to regroup after a defeat?

No, actually not. We still have two games to play this week, and looking ahead quickly is part of this job. There's no denying that the points we've accumulated so far are not what was expected, that's an undeniable fact. But we don't need a break or a fresh start, we just need to keep moving forward and start winning again.

Traduzido por IA.

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