After leading Manchester United to a 5-2 home victory over Ipswich in the Premier League, manager Carrick attended the post-match press conference. This article covers the first part of the press conference.

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Michael, the team fell behind early today, but after last weekend's disappointing defeat, today's result was certainly brilliant. In which areas do you feel your team showed the most significant improvement today?

That's football in a week for you, isn't it? I think football is always full of ups and downs, good moments and bad moments. For me personally, what pleased and reassured me most today—and something we've discussed extensively this week—is the attitude and approach to dealing with setbacks.

To be honest, if you want to be a good team, a successful team, then every team will inevitably face defeat or have to deal with setbacks that arise in a specific way during a match. Whether it's a sudden shift in momentum during a game, conceding a goal and falling behind the opponent, or experiencing a run of unsuccessful matches—no matter what the specific setback is, you have to face it and overcome it.

We spoke specifically about this before the match—trying to move past the shadow of last week's defeat. And then today we experienced another small setback—if you want to call it that—falling behind early in the match. But I think our players showed tenacity and resilience at that point, along with belief, confidence, and a spirit of unity from everyone. Although we're still in the early stages of the season, I think the mentality they showed at that stage is really very reassuring and satisfying.

Honestly, seeing how they recovered and performed the way they did today is probably the biggest lesson we can take from today's match. You know, there were many highlights in today's match, and many wonderful passing and combination plays, but it's this tenacious mentality and spirit that we really built on today and what was fundamental to winning the match.

Speaking of setbacks, although no one has asked you about Bruno Fernandes yet, can I ask about Kobbie Mainoo? Because I think his performance today was absolutely outstanding, and speaking of facing setbacks, people asked him in Dublin about his World Cup experience—perhaps that experience wasn't perfect for him—but today his high-level performance was evident in the physical battles and across all aspects. He was really excellent today...

Yes, regarding his performance today, there's not much more to say. I think he performed very, very well in all aspects of the game today. This was his first start since returning from injury, and we had been managing his playing time, and we also have excellent midfielders, so we were trying to find the right combination.

But I think Kobbie—and certainly I understand that Bruno Fernandes received great praise and recognition today, and he absolutely deserved it—but I think the protection and support that Kobbie provided us in midfield today was extremely crucial and unmatched. He built a solid defensive line for us in midfield today and greatly supported the overall performance of the entire team.

Michael, you just mentioned Bruno Fernandes. This is not the first time a Manchester United manager has stood here and been asked: "What's your take on Bruno Fernandes?" But in terms of his leadership—whether it's his daily way of leading the team and uniting everyone, or his performance on the pitch like today—could you briefly summarize and describe what he means to Manchester United?

Yes, he certainly means a lot. I mean, he's our captain, he's been here for many years, and during those long years, he's experienced many different emotions and overcome many difficult moments. Now he has great experience to pass on to other young players, and he can also, to a certain extent, guide them, lead by example, and help them at different moments and stages.

Like today, you know, at certain moments, naturally you turn to certain key players, hoping they can bring us something different and brilliant, and he did that extremely well today. So he can provide us with a lot of help. What more can I say? In the six or seven months I've been here, we've actually talked about him quite a lot, and I hope he can bring us even more wonderful performances in the future.

Following on from that, I mean, he certainly won't receive any external criticism for a performance as excellent as today's, but does it sometimes surprise you? After all, from the outside, his leadership and charisma are always criticized for various reasons...

I don't think so, honestly. I'm not surprised by it at all anymore. This is the label that the outside world likes to attach to you when you lose a match. As I said last week, just because you lose one match doesn't mean everything went wrong, doesn't mean all the gears fell off and broke, or that the players don't want to play, or that they lack fighting spirit, or that they don't have leadership qualities.

You know, that's how football is—some matches are always lost, even the best teams in the world lose matches. So I think, going back to the theme of dealing with setbacks, the best teams know how to bounce back quickly. And honestly, since we've been working together here, these lads have shown excellent adaptability and resilience in facing different setbacks. You know, this will also put us in a very good position for the future.

Regarding Rashford, he obviously had opportunities before, but what's your take on his first home start in nearly two years?

Yes, I'm very happy for Rashford. I think we treated and managed everything normally today, as usual. It's really great to see him back in the starting lineup here and enjoying being integrated into the team's excellent overall performance. You know, today was his first start—and also the first start for several other players in a long time. But I think he performed extremely well, especially in a difficult situation. Throughout the flow of the match, and then in the second half, everything started to click and work. So I think he performed very well in all aspects today, and he'll only improve. So I'm extremely pleased and happy with his performance.

Traducido por IA.

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