Every word of Michael Carrick’s embargoed Everton pre-match press conference | OneFootball

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Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has been speaking to the media in the embargoed section of the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to face Everton in the Premier League.

Here is every word of the embargoed section of the presser. For the main section, click here.

How

The first reporter asked: “It seems pretty clear from looking at this window that there’s clubs in the Premier League now that can outspend United, and you’re almost competing in a different league to them financially. How difficult does it make to achieve the ultimate aims? Because we’ve heard people around the club say you want to win the league, you want to compete for the Champions League. It feels to do that like it’s going to need a triumph of coaching really to improve the existing players. Is that a fair assessment, and how do you reach those targets if you just can’t compete with three or four clubs in this league?

Carrick replied: “Oh, we certainly feel we can compete, and I think that the challenge is getting the right dynamics, getting the right balance, getting the right group together, getting the best players in the group to enhance the rest of the group. And whether you need experience, some younger players, the actual amount of money in the end, I understand it’s— it can be a big thing. It doesn’t always have to be the answer, but it can be. And it’s up to us to do the work and get the best out of the group.”

“We’ve got a fantastic group of players and they’ve proved over a period of time now that we can put results together and play well and win in all sorts of different places and environments. And we’ve got to keep doing it in the end. And as I said, we’ve strengthened the group from what we had last season and we finished the season really strong. So we’re really positive with where we can get to. Realistic from where we’ve been, but we know where we want to get to and we’re really positive that we can.”

Another reporter asked “were you surprised by the lack of sales? The most senior sale was, was Toby [Collyer].

“Was I surprised?”

“Yeah.”

“Um, no, to be honest, no.”

The reporter continued “Is that a reflection of the club’s history? Because it feels like they have struggled to sell players in recent years in particular.”

He answered: “Maybe, maybe not. I think it was going back to us keeping the group stronger. We had a really good foundation of eight months or so where we know as a group what we can do, who brings what to the group at certain times, and we wanted to be stronger. So that was the focus and how whatever we need to do to stay stronger, whether that was what players to go, whether it was to keep certain players ultimately we want, we want to keep getting better, and we feel we have done. So with the group that we’ve got now, we’re we’re in good shape, it’s up to us to push forward now.”

The topic was revisited again by the next reporter, who asked “obviously some of the fans will look at the numbers that other teams have invested, but Sunday’s your 20th Premier League game since you got appointed. I don’t think any other team has won more Premier League points in that time. That would suggest that it’s one thing that happens at boardroom level with the money that’s invested and another thing that happens on the pitch, and that you actually can compete without necessarily pumping £400 million into a squad in one transfer window?”

The boss responded: “We can certainly compete. For me being at this club, you’ve got to strive to win. That’s where we want— we say we expect to win. That’s not blasé, but that’s where we want to be and we want to try and get to that on a consistent level.”

“I don’t like keep looking back, but recent history, very recent history, is as much as anything for the boys to feel it and the group to feel it. They know what it’s taken to put that run together that you’ve just mentioned. Granted, there was, it was one competition and we need to do that an awful lot more this season, but we have strengthened the group, so we feel good about what’s possible. We know the challenges that we face, of course we do, and it’s not an instant thing, but I think we’re moving in the right direction, that’s for sure.”

Does Carrick feel he’s been supported by the board?

A reporter then wondeered whether the manager would “look at what your rivals have spent, look at the black and white of those figures, and maybe feel that you can only pull so many rabbits out of the hat, but at some stage you need the tools that you need to do the job to compete at that highest level?”

The Wallsend man replied: “We’ve got to be moving forward and as a group we’re moving forward, as a team we definitely are, and the habits, the mentality of the group showing some really encouraging signs and getting the best out of what we can get the best out of and feel that we can be right in there.”

“There’s obviously some teams that are a bit further down the line than us. We’ve been here 8 months or so and some of the players have been here just not long before me. So there’s a freshness around the group, there’s an excitement around the group, which is really encouraging. And there’s a— I’ll be honest, there’s a hunger and a feeling of wanting to achieve something. So that’s from us, which we’ve got to keep and we’ve got to grow. And I’m glad the players feel that way, that they’ve got that confidence. And suffer setbacks, bounce back, know what we can do, what we can do when we’re at our best. And we’ve got to stay at that level for as long as we can.”

The next question was on the same theme, “to people or fans who still think that you maybe lack that X amount to compete at the highest level consistently, What would you say to them?”

He responded: “There’s a lot of people think a lot of things, to be honest. It is what it is. I think we know what we have, what we can do, what we can achieve. Money’s one thing, what you do with it is another thing, how you make the most of it is another thing. It’s about what happens on the pitch at the end of the day, and we just keep giving what we can, giving our best, and keep trying to win.”

On the toxic atmosphere at the Hill Dickinson

The next question was “how aware are you of what’s happening outside of the pitch and do you feel that you can actually use it this time in your favour?”

Carrick replied: “Obviously certainly aware of all sorts of things throughout different clubs, but it ultimately comes For me and the players, it’s preparing for what we do on the pitch,and certainly emotionally, whatever way it goes, you’ve got to be able to cope with it, make the most of situations.”

“But it doesn’t come into our thinking for going into the game. Whatever we understand, we’re going into an atmosphere that’s— it’s all, as I’ve just said, historically, all I know is going to Everton is a tough, tough game. So that’s purely what’s on my mind in preparing for that, and we need to be at our best. If we’re at our best, close to our best, then we’ll have a good chance of winning the game. But they’re a really good team and they’ve started well, so we know it’s a challenge.”

Will the defence be replaced next summer?

“You’ve obviously signed three midfielders this summer,” the next reporter said. “The club signed three forwards last summer, and in all cases I think you’re looking to them for the long term. Does that indicate that next year the focus will be much more on, on the defence and bringing in defenders?”

The head coach answered: “It’s not always as simple as that. I understand why you kind of come to that conclusion. It’s not always as simple as that. I think there is the evolution of trying to improve things all the time and how the season goes, form, injuries, who’s looking good, what the future looks like. There’s a lot, there’s obviously a lot that goes into it, and step by step we’re trying to improve. So we’ll see how the season goes and what we need to develop. But we’ve obviously got a clear idea what we want to look like in coming through this summer to then a little bit further down the line.”

Kobbie Mainoo‘s role

“Kobbie’s got much praise for his performance at the weekend. After the season that he had last year and not playing any minutes at the World Cup this summer, how are you going to manage him this season? How prominent a role can he have in the team given there’s much more competition?”

The boss replied: “Yeah, I think the competition is a positive thing, and that’s competition not necessarily because it’s either one player or the other player. I think it’s a collective to know that it’s a strong group. So, I think obviously Kobbie made big strides last season, from finishing the season so strong and he played ever so well last week again. And you can see in him his development and how much he’s improving certain aspects of his game, and wants to learn, is hungry to learn, wants more all the time, which is great because he has had a really good eight months since I’ve been in. And it’ll be easy for him to think, this is all right, you know, I’ve got in the team, played a lot of games and everything’s good. But he’s pushing for more, as he should.”

“So the beauty of having the competition, if you like, but more the the foundation to be strong is that you can learn off each other, you can help each other. And certainly as a midfield group, we feel like it’s really strong. And Kobbie can have another big season for sure. He’s come back great, really has come back great, and you’ve seen that on the weekend. But in and around the group, in and around training, you can see him growing. His personality, he’s obviously maturing all the time as well, and he’s still so young. There’s loads to still come from him, which is great.

Finally, he was asked about Ruben Amorim’s reluctance to play Mainoo: “Just to follow up on that, Michael, maybe the previous manager had a bit of concerns about him defensively, and as a former midfielder, do you work with him specifically on, on off the ball, and, and how important is he to what you’re trying to do and the style of play that you’re trying to play here?”

Carrick responded: “We’re constantly working, not just me, all the coaches, we’re constantly working with all the boys individually on on certain things, whether that’s on the pitch, off the pitch. Yeah, constantly not lecturing Kobbie at all, but letting him play, letting him express himself, letting him do what he’s good at. He’s got some amazing attributes that we want to use. And then there’s definitely the improvement side, and trying to help him. And the great thing about it is that he wants to learn and you can see him, he’s trying. You try and give him a little bit of things here and there, he really takes it on board well and learns, and that’s going to give him a great chance to fulfil his potential, which obviously he’s got an awful lot of.”