Michael Carrick's post-match press conference centred on the big talking points from our 2-2 draw with AFC Bournemouth.
Our final game before a 24-day gap in first-team action left everyone with plenty to chew on over the international break, and our head coach was quick to praise his team for the way they handled the adversity on the south coast to take home a point.
He believed a spot-kick should have been given for a foul on Amad, and said the game
The United boss was thrilled by his team's reaction to Harry Maguire's red card, defending superbly a man short for almost 20 minutes.
See what Carrick had to say at his post-match media briefing below...
He believed a spot-kick should have been given for a foul on Amad, and said the game
“flipped”when the hosts quickly broke and scored seconds later through Ryan Christie.
The United boss was thrilled by his team's reaction to Harry Maguire's red card, defending superbly a man short for almost 20 minutes.
See what Carrick had to say at his post-match media briefing below...
Michael, the game seemed to turn on the non-award of a penalty on Amad, and then on a penalty awarded to Bournemouth. What was your view on what happened?
“He's definitely got one of them wrong because he's not given one penalty for us for the same reason he’s given the other. One he gives for the grab on Matheus [Cunha] and the second one he doesn’t. I think they’re identical. For me, it’s two penalties. It’s a huge moment and they then go down the other end and score. Then it all of a sudden becomes needing to be a bigger penalty to get it overturned just because they scored. It’s baffling, really, trying to make sense of that. Because they score, the game flips but we defended with 10 men really well. We’ve seen them win late here, so that was a big positive for us to take a point. We take that, but the penalty decision is astonishing - one of them must be wrong.”
It’s two wins from eight now in the Premier League away from home. You've had such a huge impact at Old Trafford - so why have you not been able to translate that on the road you think?
Have you asked the referee for an explanation? Did you see what the Premier League match centres have said?
“I’ve not spoken to him, no. I’ve not seen what’s been said either. Once it’s done it’s done, you know. You can have all the conversations in the world - it could have been this or it could have been that. If the first one is a penalty, then the next is pretty straightforward. As I say, one of them's got to be right. But it’s done now. We finish on the positive of taking a point.”
How’s Harry? He looks furious at the decision to send him off...
“I’ve not really spoken with Harry, to be honest. I’ve not seen the decision. If he's gone past him and he's clean on goal, and he's put an arm on him, then he's given a penalty for that. That's what's happened when it's all in the same game, there's so many eyes on it and we didn't get two of them. It is what it is, we coped after that [red card] really well. I’d rather take the positives.”
“This league's tough, you know. We've won a lot of games recently, so I think the amount of points we've accumulated and some of the performances and the results that we have had, it’s a real positive. It's a tough league - it happens. I thought we managed it in the end pretty well.”
Have you asked the referee for an explanation? Did you see what the Premier League match centres have said?
“I’ve not spoken to him, no. I’ve not seen what’s been said either. Once it’s done it’s done, you know. You can have all the conversations in the world - it could have been this or it could have been that. If the first one is a penalty, then the next is pretty straightforward. As I say, one of them's got to be right. But it’s done now. We finish on the positive of taking a point.”
How’s Harry? He looks furious at the decision to send him off...
“I’ve not really spoken with Harry, to be honest. I’ve not seen the decision. If he's gone past him and he's clean on goal, and he's put an arm on him, then he's given a penalty for that. That's what's happened when it's all in the same game, there's so many eyes on it and we didn't get two of them. It is what it is, we coped after that [red card] really well. I’d rather take the positives.”
There was big news today about Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire, both got England call ups and there is talk about new contracts. How significant could that be for the club?
There’s more than 20 days now before the game with Leeds United. What do you intend on doing with the squad?
“There's not too many left, to be honest. We’ve got Mason [Mount], Josh [Zirkzee], we’ve got Tyrell [Malacia], and Luke Shaw, so most of the other lads are off. It feels like a long time, but because it's the international break and the boys usually have to hurry back, it gives them a chance not to rush. It feels long when you say it days-wise, but the fact is that boys would be training and a lot of them would be playing two games anyway. We'll make the most of it when we all get back together.”
“Contract negotiations with players are always on-going, so you hope whatever it is gets done in the right way. Both have been great, and being back in the England squad is what they deserve. I’m not getting involved on how close things are, but they’ve both done great.”
There’s more than 20 days now before the game with Leeds United. What do you intend on doing with the squad?
“There's not too many left, to be honest. We’ve got Mason [Mount], Josh [Zirkzee], we’ve got Tyrell [Malacia], and Luke Shaw, so most of the other lads are off. It feels like a long time, but because it's the international break and the boys usually have to hurry back, it gives them a chance not to rush. It feels long when you say it days-wise, but the fact is that boys would be training and a lot of them would be playing two games anyway. We'll make the most of it when we all get back together.”