Carrick: I'm Very Pleased with Rashford, His Absence Tonight Is a Precaution and Load Management

At 23:30 CEST on September 13, Manchester United will host Manchester City in the Manchester Derby for the third round of the Premier League. Following the first leg of the Champions League group stage at home against Al-Ain, Manchester United manager Michael Carrick held a pre-match press conference for this fixture. After the media embargo lifted, the contents of the press conference were published. This article covers the first section of the press conference.

Hi Michael, regarding the striker position, Matheus Cunha and Ben Sesko clearly have very different understandings of the number 9 role. To what extent does the opposition's playing style influence your considerations when selecting them? Do you need to specifically work on this in training, since in my view their running styles are quite different, and is this understanding and chemistry something you constantly need to refine and work through in training?

That's correct, they clearly have different strengths and characteristics. I think as a team, the fundamental principles we try to achieve and the way we try to play shouldn't change too much because of personnel changes, but different players absolutely offer us different options, if that makes sense.

We still want to play in a certain way, try certain tactics, but whether it's Ben, Matheus, Bryan Mbeumo, Marcus Rashford, or another player in that position, the threat they bring is different. So partly it depends on the opposition's characteristics, partly on our own team balance, and the specific areas and spaces we want to attack, and so on. Sometimes that's reflected when we have the ball, sometimes when we don't have the ball, including the specific areas we need to defend, etc. So there are many layers of factors involved.

Speaking of Rashford, I know he's not on the pitch tonight, but the fans have been calling his name, and it feels like he's playing at his best right now. From your perspective, has his return been as smooth as you hoped?

I'm very pleased with Marcus, yes, in many respects I'm very pleased with him. I think that's very clear from his performances. In Sunday's match, he once again showed real threat, and although unfortunately we couldn't get more from it, he certainly posed a significant threat. Yes, I'm not sure what else I could say, we're just very happy to have him. He's doing many things very well and has reintegrated into the team very quickly.

Regarding his absence tonight, is that a precaution after he felt something?

Partly that, yes. It's partly a precaution, and also an effort to reasonably manage the player's workload to a certain extent. We have a very good squad to choose from, so we're trying to keep everyone fit, but there are limits to that fitness – tonight we also want Ben Sesko to get sufficient playing time to get back into rhythm and regain form as quickly as possible. So finding the balance in these aspects is always a challenge. But it's good to keep Marcus fresh and ready for the weekend's match.

Speaking about fitness and rotation, you clearly made some substitutions in the second half, but how difficult is it to take off Bruno Fernandes? He seems to play every minute of every match. Will there come a time in the future when you need to tell him, "Come on, mate, take a rest"?

We only have five substitutions, so we have to make some clear decisions about our substitution strategy. But undoubtedly, he's like everyone else. He's played a very high number of matches, but I think we're building and strengthening this team and squad so we can handle these situations differently. Tonight is just one of those situations where decisions need to be made, and he ultimately stayed on the pitch.

Regarding injury news and team personnel for Sunday's match, is there anyone who could return? How is Luke Shaw's situation at the moment?

We'll have to wait and see, we'll have to wait and see. We protected and managed him to a certain extent ahead of tonight's match. He's not at 100%, so we didn't want to take the risk. We'll see how his recovery progresses over the next few days.

Hi Michael, your first match after taking over the team was against Manchester City, and back then most people didn't have very high expectations for you, and I think now most Manchester United fans' expectations are considerably higher, not just because Manchester City themselves are also undergoing major changes. How do you see this match? How might this match be different compared to when you took over in January?

Yes, things will certainly be different since January, for the simple reason that no two matches are exactly the same, it's impossible to have two identical matches, so this one will definitely be different. I don't think we would ever have the idea that "we won last season, so if we just do the same thing, everything will go well."

I understand everyone's expectations of us. Back then, everything was fresh, everything was new. Back then, nobody was quite sure how the specific situation was, or where the team would go. The players, perhaps including myself, the coaching staff, and of course you in the media, everyone was waiting to see how things would develop, and the transition was very rushed.

Therefore, I think the confidence we've built over a certain period of time, and the feeling that we're constantly improving, has helped us a lot. We know this is a big match, we know this is an important match, with a lot at stake. It's clear to say that, but we're very much looking forward to this match. Although we have limited time to recover and prepare, we'll make full use of that time.

Hi Michael, what challenges will the team led by Enzo Maresca bring? Although there have only been four or five matches this season, do you see significant differences in Manchester City now compared to when Pep Guardiola was in charge?

They're a very good team, and clearly they've achieved some very good results. I think they performed very professionally in their match against Porto a few days ago, and they efficiently did what needed to be done. Clearly, they have plenty of players to select and rotate from, which is an advantageous position for them. So yes, they're a strong team. There will be some minor tactical adjustments during the match, which I don't need to discuss in detail here, but you try to learn from matches. We know we need to put in a very good performance and do many things well to achieve the desired result.

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