Michael Carrick Pleased with M. Rashford; Benching Is Precautionary and Load Management

At 23:30 BST (CEST) on 13 September, Manchester United will host Manchester City in the third round of the Premier League Manchester Derby. Following the first leg of the Champions League group stage at home against Al-Shabab, Manchester United manager Michael Carrick held a pre-match press conference for this fixture. After the media embargo was lifted, the content of the press conference was revealed, and this article covers the first half of that press conference.

Hello Michael. Regarding the striker position—Matheus Cunha and Ben Sesko have clearly different understandings of the number 9 role. How much does the opposition's playing style influence your decision between them? Do you need to work on this specifically in training, since their running styles differ so much? Is this chemistry something you need to continuously refine and adjust in training?

Yes, they have clearly different strengths and characteristics. As a team, I think our fundamental principles—what we're trying to achieve and how we want to play—shouldn't change too much due to personnel changes. But different players certainly give us different options, which is fine.

We still want to play a certain way and try certain tactics, but whether it's Ben, Matheus, Bryan Mbeumo, M. Rashford, or others in that position, the threats they pose are different. So part of it depends on the nature of the opposition, part of it depends on our own team balance and the specific areas we want to attack. Sometimes that's reflected in possession, sometimes without it—including the specific areas we need to defend and so on. So there are multiple layers of factors involved.

Speaking of M. Rashford—I know he's not playing tonight, but the fans were singing his name. He's in brilliant form right now. From your perspective, has everything gone as smoothly as you expected since he returned?

I'm very pleased with M. Rashford. Yes, I'm very pleased with him in many ways. I think it's clear from his performances. In the game last Sunday, he showed real threat again. While we were unfortunate not to get a better result, he certainly created great danger. Yes, I'm not sure what more I can say, really. We're just delighted to have him with us. He's doing very well in many aspects and has integrated back into the team quickly.

Regarding him not playing tonight—is this precautionary after he felt something, or is there another reason?

Part of the reason is yes, it's precautionary. And it's also about trying to manage the squad's playing load reasonably. We have excellent options, so we're trying to keep everyone fresh. But there are limits to freshness—tonight we hope Ben Sesko gets enough minutes to regain his rhythm and form as quickly as possible. So balancing these things is always a challenge. That said, it's good to keep M. Rashford energised and ready for the game this weekend.

On fitness and squad rotation—clearly you rotated some players in the second half, but how difficult is it to take off Bruno Fernandes? He seems to play every minute of every game. Will there come a time when you need to tell him, "Come on, mate, take a breather"?

We only have five substitutes, so we have to make clear decisions about our substitution strategy. But there's no doubt he, like everyone else, has played a huge number of games. I think we're building and strengthening this squad and pool so we can manage these situations in multiple ways. Tonight was just one situation that required a decision, and he remained on the pitch.

On injuries and team news for Sunday's game—will anyone return? What's the current situation with Luke Shaw?

We'll have to wait and see. We'll have to wait and see. Before tonight's game, we were cautious with him to a degree. He's not at full fitness, so we didn't want to risk it. Over the next few days, we'll see his specific recovery.

Hello Michael. Your first game after taking charge was against Manchester City, and at that time most people didn't expect much from you. I imagine Manchester United fans' expectations are now much higher—not just because of Manchester City themselves going through major changes. How do you view this match? How might it differ from when you took over in January?

Yes, everything will certainly be different from January for one simple reason: no two matches are ever exactly the same. There won't be two identical matches. So this match will definitely be different. I don't think we can go into it thinking, "We won last season, so if we do everything the same way, it'll work out fine."

I understand the expectations everyone has of us. At that time, everything was fresh, everything was new. People weren't sure how things would go or where the team was headed. The players, including myself, the coaching staff, and of course you in the media—everyone was waiting to see how things would unfold. The transition was very rushed.

So I think the confidence we've built over a period of time, and the feeling we've developed continuously, has helped us a lot. We know this is a big occasion. We know this is an important match with high stakes. Saying that is routine, but we're very much looking forward to this game. Even though we have a short recovery and preparation period, we'll make the most of this time.

Hello Michael. What challenges will the team led by Enzo Maresca present? Even though they've only played four or five games this season, have you noticed any significant differences between the current Manchester City and when Pep was in charge?

They're a very good team, and clearly they're performing well. I think they played very professionally against Porto the other day and did what they needed to do efficiently. Obviously, they have many players to choose from and rotate, which is an advantage for them. So yes, they're a strong team. There will be subtle adjustments in the game, which I don't need to go into detail about here, but you try to learn from games. We know we need to perform excellently and get a lot of things right to get the result we want.

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