After leading Manchester United to a 5-2 home victory over Ipswich in the second round of 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, your team fell behind early today, but after a disappointing result last weekend, you've certainly achieved a brilliant outcome today. In which areas do you feel your team made the most significant improvements?

That's a week in football for you, isn't it? Football is always full of ups and downs, peaks and troughs. For me personally, the most rewarding and pleasing aspect today – something we discussed in depth this week – is the attitude and approach to setbacks.

To be honest, if you want to be a good team, a successful team, then every team will inevitably face setbacks. You must deal with the adversity that arises during a match in a specific way. Whether it's a sudden change in tempo, conceding a goal and falling behind, or experiencing a run of unsuccessful matches – whatever the specific setback, you must face it and overcome it.

We specifically discussed this before the match – trying to move past the shadow of last week's defeat. Today we encountered another small setback – if you want to call it that – which was falling behind early in the match. But I think our players showed resilience and tenacity in that phase, as well as belief, confidence, and a spirit of unity from everyone. Though we're still in the early stages of the season, I think the mental state they demonstrated in that period is really very reassuring and satisfying.

Honestly, seeing how they recovered and performed on the pitch the way they did today – that may be the greatest lesson we can take from today's match. You know, there were many highlights in the match, wonderful passing combinations, but that resilient mentality and spirit are the cornerstone we can truly rely on to win matches.

Speaking of setbacks, while no one's asked about Bruno Fernandes yet, can I ask about Kobbie Mainoo's situation? Because I thought he was absolutely brilliant today. Speaking of overcoming setbacks, people asked in Dublin about his World Cup experience – perhaps that wasn't the perfect experience for him – but you saw the extremely high level of his performance today, both physically and in every other aspect. He was really excellent today…

Yes, there's not much more to say about his performance today. I think he was very, very good in every aspect on the pitch. This was his first start since returning from injury. We were managing and protecting his playing time, and we also have excellent midfield players, so we were trying to find the right combination.

But I think Kobbie – I certainly understand Bruno received great praise and recognition today, and he absolutely deserves it – but I think the shield and support Kobbie provided us in midfield today was extremely crucial and unparalleled. He built a solid defensive line for us in midfield and largely underpinned the team's overall performance.

Michael, you just mentioned Bruno, and this isn't the first time a Manchester United manager has sat here and been asked: "How do you assess Bruno?" But in terms of his leadership – whether it's the daily task of leading the team and uniting everyone, or his on-pitch performance like today – can you briefly sum up what he means to Manchester United?

Yes, he certainly means a lot. I mean, he's our captain, and he's been here for many years, during which he's experienced many completely different emotions and overcome many difficult periods. He now has vast experience to pass on to the younger players, and can, to a certain extent, guide them by leading by example and helping them at different moments and stages.

For instance, like today – at certain moments you naturally look to certain key players, hoping they can provide us with a spark, and he did an excellent job in that regard today. So he can provide us a lot of help. What more can I say? In the six or seven months I've been here, we've talked so much about him, and I hope he can deliver even more wonderful performances for us in the future.

Following up on that – with such an excellent performance today, he certainly won't receive any external criticism, but do you sometimes find that surprising? After all, from the outside, his leadership and charisma are often criticized for various reasons…

No, I don't actually. To be honest, it doesn't surprise me anymore. That's generally the label people on the outside like to stick on you when you lose a game. As I said last week, just because you lose a match doesn't mean everything went wrong, doesn't mean all the wheels came off, or that the players don't want to play, or that they lack fighting spirit or leadership qualities.

That's football – you're always going to lose some games. Even the best teams in the world lose matches. So I think, returning to the subject of dealing with setbacks, the best teams know how to bounce back quickly. And, to be fair, since we've been working together, these lads have shown excellent adaptability and resilience when faced with different setbacks. That will put us in a very strong position going forward.

Regarding Marcus Rashford, he obviously had playing opportunities before, but what did you make of Marcus in his first start at home in nearly two years?

Yes, I'm very pleased for Marcus. I think we handled everything normally today, as usual. It's really great to see him back in the starting lineup and enjoying being part of the team's excellent overall performance. This was his first start today – and also for several other players in a long time. But I think he did an extremely good job, especially given the circumstances weren't straightforward. Particularly early on as the match developed and flowed, and then in the second half everything started to click into place. So I think he performed very well in every aspect today, and he'll only improve. I'm extremely satisfied and delighted with his performance.

Traduzido por IA.

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