On September 13 at 23:30 Beijing Time (CEST), Manchester United will host Manchester City in the Manchester Derby, Round 3 of the Premier League. Following the first round of the Champions League group stage at home against Al Ahli, Manchester United manager Carrick held a pre-match press conference. After the media embargo ended, the press conference content was released. This article covers the second half of the press conference.

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Michael, when Elliot Anderson joined Manchester City, he said that growing up, "Manchester City are the Kings of Manchester" was just a normal part of life. Do you think that truly reflects the current state of the city derby?

I clearly won't use that term (Kings of Manchester), no, but I understand what he's saying. I think, heading into tonight's Champions League match and talking about expectations, it's positive that in some ways expectations have shifted. Suddenly, there are different demands on us now compared to a few months ago.

We successfully qualified for the Champions League, which in itself demonstrates the progress we've made, and we need to advance to the next stage of the Champions League. With that comes higher expectations. We understand that, and we're humble and pragmatic enough to acknowledge the ups and downs we've experienced in recent history. We want to perform better, and we want to compete at a higher level. That's where we are right now. It doesn't mean we can't or won't do it. We still have hope and belief, and we hope and expect we can and should reach that level, but I also understand the bigger picture.

Hi Michael, can I ask about Tielemans? Is he the type of technical midfielder that perhaps Manchester United has lacked since you left?

I don't really want to talk about myself, but as I said earlier when I spoke about the four midfielders playing tonight, they're all very technical, capable of controlling the ball and moving it forward, whether through passing, running, or dribbling, to advance and connect play. It's excellent to have players like that and integrate them into the team.

Tielemans has adapted very well, and André Santos has also adapted brilliantly. Mount, what we're asking him to do might be slightly different from what he's done in the past, but I think you've seen tonight and in preseason how naturally he does these things. Back to Tielemans, I think his performance has improved with every match, and you can see the connection and understanding between the players continuing to strengthen.

I imagine taking this job just before the first match against Manchester City and trying to get the players ready was very rushed. Did you ever think back then that nine months later you'd be performing well enough to earn a long-term permanent coaching contract and face Manchester City again? Did that cross your mind at the time?

Yes, I think I actually said quite early on that I always planned to be here long-term. Every decision we made was based on the premise that we would be coaching here for a long time. I didn't know for certain how long back then, and I still don't now. But you always plan for the future you want and the direction you want to go, and that's been the case since day one.

Obviously, everything happened very quickly back then, and the transition was very rapid. Honestly, as I just said, there were many unknowns before and after that match. So the performance shown by the players in that context was remarkable. But for me, from the beginning, there has always been, and always will be, a clear plan: work hard to bring this club back to the level we believe it should reach in the long term.

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