Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick is ready for a “proper game”
against Chelsea on Saturday, in our battle for UEFA Champions League football.
The Reds boss, speaking in the first part of his pre-match media briefing at Carrington, admitted that our last outing against Leeds United did not go the way we wanted, but believes his side showed a character towards the end of that match that we need to take through to Stamford Bridge.
He was also asked about the bans for Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez, the fitness of Kobbie Mainoo and Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu, and much more.
Keep scrolling to read, or watch, everything he had to say...
Obviously, there was the disappointment of Monday, and since then, Harry Maguire's got an additional ban. What was your reaction to that, and what was his reaction to it?
“To be honest, there's not much we can react to. Massively disappointed, of course. I think quite a few reasons to be disappointed in a big way over those types of situations over the last three weeks, but obviously now we've got to move on, the decisions have been made, it’s something that we're really disappointed with in many ways, but that's it now. We've got to move on and we will do.”
With Lisandro [Martinez], there was talk of an appeal over that decision. Did that go in? And have you heard anything back?
“Yeah, I think we're obviously disappointed, we didn't agree with it. I think it was pretty obvious how I felt after the game and I still feel that way, so yeah, listen, I don't want to go into it now. I think it is what it is. We've been hit with some decisions, and at the end of the day, now we've just got to accept it and move on, whether we like them or not.”
So he's not going to be available? There's no chance he can play tomorrow?
“No.”
Just touching on the team news, is Kobbie Mainoo back in training? And are you expecting anyone else like Patrick [Chinazaekpere] Dorgu, is he back with team training yet?
“Patrick's not, no. He's going well, he's rehabbing well, he's kind of on track, but he's not with us in terms of training yet, but he's back on the pitch, as I've already said, so that's positive, and he's doing really well. Kobbie, [is doing] little bits, yeah, we're working towards it, he's done little bits, so there's a decision to be made there.”
I just wanted to ask you about Ayden Heaven as well, he's probably the most logical person to come into the team. He had a run of games before you returned to the club starting, not seen all that much of him since. What do you think he maybe needs to do to really contest for those starting positions and where you want to see him develop in the future?
“I think Ayden's in a good place, well I know he's in a good place. He's obviously still young and he's progressing through the early stage of his career really. So, I think it's pretty natural for him to play some games and maybe not some others. He's training really well, he's learning, he's listening, he wants to improve, so I think it's pretty natural for a centre-half of his age, he's probably well ahead of schedule in terms of the games that he's played. So yeah, he's trained well, I've got no worries. He went away and played with England a couple of weeks ago and done well, so yeah, looking forward to the game for sure.”
Obviously it’s an absolutely huge game against Chelsea, being a rival for the Champions League places. The record at Stamford Bridge has not been great down the years either. I guess that doesn't count for much though heading into Saturday. It's an absolutely crucial match, isn't it, whichever way you look at it?
“Yeah, it's an important game. You know, we're in a good position in the league and we want to keep building on that. It's a tough place to go, always has been, we've always had tough games down there. Most of the time they've been good games in terms of what it brings, the feeling of a real proper game, so we'll be ready for that. We've prepared well and, as I said, we take the confidence from what we've built. Yeah, we didn't get the result we wanted against Leeds on Monday, but certainly the way they finished the game and the character we showed, and we've got to take that into this game with an extra player and make the most of it.”
I know you've got a decision to make at a centre-back and there's different options for you, but just longer term, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, could that be the future of Manchester United's backline?
“In terms of predicting the future, I think you’ve got to be careful what you try and predict, but certainly we're delighted to have both of them and the ages that they're at to have played in the Premier League for such a big club, it's not always the case. I think it's a position that to be in the team at a young age in a big club, it's not always easy, it's not always straightforward. So, for the two boys to have played that, they have different amounts at different times, but I think the experience and the stage that they're at now, they're at a really good stage. The future is the future, they need to keep progressing and we'll give them the opportunity to do that, whether that's with training off the pitch and the coaching side and the help and the advice and certainly the game time as well. So, I think they're both in a really good place at the moment, as probably as well as you can hope for centre-backs at the age that they're at.”
I realise analysis of situations is shaped by results, but there's been a lot of talk about substitutions in the wake of Monday. What is the thought process? Because a lot of people thought maybe there should have been a change at half-time or earlier or more. What is the thought process?
“There's always people that think some other things. There's always other opinion. There's a lot that comes into substitutions. I think we've had good impact off the bench really when you look back over the time we've been here. In different ways, players coming on, scoring goals. Yeah, don't look into it too much. Obviously, we analyse what we take from each game, but in terms of number of subs and when they're made and comparing it to other teams, it's kind of irrelevant really. It's results and generally we've had good results.”
And you've mentioned a couple of times about Mason Mount. It seemed when Ruben [Amorim] was here that there was a kind of slot for him. It doesn't seem quite as obvious in the formation you play. Where do you think he can be most effective?
“There's definitely a place for him, without a doubt. He's obviously working to get fit and finding that [fitness]. The other night I thought we actually finished the game to a point where we were having some chances as well, so it was: ‘Did we change it, did we not [and bring Mason on]?’ There's obviously a decision to be made there, but Mason's got a good future here, so I really don't worry about it.”