After Manchester United's 0-2 away defeat to Hull City in the opening match of the new Premier League season, manager Carrick was interviewed by former Norwegian international and sports journalist Fjortoft.

I'd say in coaching, there are a lot of buzz words now, like passion, intensity, and "giving everything". But do you accept the suggestion that the team lacked passion in the first half?

Come on, that's ridiculous.

Not at all?

Come on, you've played football, you should understand that suggestion is ridiculous. Just because you lost the match doesn't mean you didn't care.

No, I'm not saying you didn't care. I'm saying if you watch the match, it's because they played with more passion, that's what I mean. I understand you care deeply about the match, but do you accept that at this stage, they outperformed you?

No, that's not it. The match was like this... both goals came from set pieces. Apart from that, we also created chances, and that's where the key to the match lies. I don't think it has anything to do with passion or other factors. I think they simply took their opportunities and changed the match because of that.

Are the set pieces you're talking about the two that led to both goals? Because they also created chances, and there were signs during the match that they would cause you problems?

It's a football match, first and foremost, it's a match. It's their first home match of the new season, and we've seen that many times before. I said before the match that it would be a difficult match. And then there were the set pieces, that's all.

We've been good at defending set pieces for a while now, but today we didn't do well. We can study this issue, we can analyze it carefully, but of course, we won't read too much into it in terms of positive or negative factors. We never do that, so I think we can stay calm and find the areas to improve.

Due to the World Cup, this pre-season preparation is special and relatively short. Will the first match be used for adjustments, to find the right team composition and style of play? Including new signings or players who've already arrived—is that part of such a special season?

No, we don't need to consider all sorts of issues simply because the match result didn't go our way. I think sometimes football matches simply have such results. Of course, we don't want that result to happen to us, but we know very well which areas of the team need improving, and we'll address them. We've strengthened the squad, and now we have a stronger team. We need to find our rhythm, build connections with each other, and then move forward, so one match won't make us deviate from that direction.

I'm not really keen on asking about specific players, and I won't, I'll try to ask more cleverly. But when you look at this team now, if you do make further signings, which position do you most want to strengthen?

We've worked hard to improve the squad, so let's see what happens with the time remaining in the transfer window.

Traduit par IA.

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