Every word of Michael Carrick’s Hull City pre-match press conference | OneFootball

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Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick had good news to share as he spoke to the media ahead of his side’s opening Premier League game of the season against Hull City on Saturday lunchtime.

First, he was asked how he is “feeling about the group”.

“Yeah, I feel good, as you’d expect,” he said. “Really looking forward to another season. They come thick and fast, so it’s about making the most of everything that’s in front of us really, and I’m really encouraged with the work we’ve done pre-season on the training ground, mostly in the games, I think has been really good. Yeah, very much looking forward to the first game and a tough one on Saturday.”

Injury News

He was then asked “In terms of player availability, are Sesko and De Ligt available? What’s the situation with Mason Mount and Karl Darlow as well?”

Carrick replied: “Yeah, Karl’s trained this week, he’s back training, so he’s in good shape. Matthijs de Ligt’s obviously been out for a long period of time, but he’s training and it’s great to have him back. Well, he won’t be involved, but he’s in good shape and moving in a good direction. So that’s really a good bonus for us really at this stage.”

“Ben’s back training, so that’s again another positive. Looking forward to having him back around the group and getting him some minutes as well. So, and then managing Mason a little bit, but he’s very close, so it’s touch and go for the weekend really, if not going into next week.”

Mason Mount’s injury history

The next question was about the ongoing problems Mason Mount has had to face in regard to injuries.

“I think, first of all, Mason’s a top player, top player,” the boss answered. “I think we’ve seen that so far pre-season. He was one of our best players in the early stages in the games that he played, and I thought he was fantastic. So not surprising. It’s what I’ve seen before, what I expect, what I know of him.”

“So, he’s picked up a little bit of a knock. It’s no dramas. Maybe it’s been a week or so or 10 days or whatever it’s been. So it’s nothing major.”

“Yeah, of course he’s missed some football over recent years and he wants to be fit. He wants to be in that full rhythm and he wants to stay fit. So we’re doing our best to help him do that, but he’s a top player, Mason. It’s the same as the squad. We’ve got to manage the squad. There’s going to be injuries through the season. We’ve got to have a squad that’s strong enough to have a really good top starting team with the depth to carry us through the season. So Mason will be back very, very soon, if not immediately. So it’s all good.”

Carrick was then asked “Some people have looked at your fixture list and said two newly promoted teams, that’s a favourable start for Manchester United. You’ve been around the club long long enough to know that United have slipped up in games like this right at the start of the season before. How do you see it? You almost see it as more dangerous because people will think you should win?”

The Wallsend man replied: “Well, I think first of all, for all of us know this league, there’s no favourable start. I think it’s a tough start, both teams, but not getting past Saturday, a newly promoted team away from home is a tough, tough game. You know, I’ve been involved in them in the past, so I’m fully aware of what’s at stake, what’s coming at us on Saturday, what we’ve got to be ready for. So it’s not favourable. I think it’s an easy thing to throw out there, but it’s pretty ridiculous. And certainly we’re not taking it that way at all.”

On Marcus Rashford’s return

The next reporter asked “just a question on Marcus Rashford. I know we did ask you a few questions about him in Dublin. But since he’s been back, I just wonder, has he expressed any desire to stay at United beyond the deadline? And just a second, if you don’t mind, do you see him as an option through the middle as well as playing on the left?”

“It’s been pretty obvious since Marcus came back training with Kobbie and Licha here pretty much in Dublin that he’s come back fantastically well,” the boss replied. “He’s enjoying his football, he looks fit, he looks sharp, he looks strong, he looks ready to play football.”

“So I’ve been delighted with him since he’s since he’s came back. Yeah, of course he can play through the middle. He has done. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily his number one position, but he can do that. And I think we’ve got forwards that give us that flexibility right across the front line that we’ve used all of pretty much in slightly different roles. So I think for us to have that option is really good moving through the season, obviously.”

Transfer window

The conversation then turned to the transfer window. The manager was asked if he expected there to be a lot of activity before the window closes, and whether a left-back is a priority.

“I just think we’re looking to strengthen the squad,” he answered. “We’re certainly working towards that and making the most of the situation that we have and trying to improve things and trying to move forward. You know, I said the same thing to you last time. So yeah, certainly trying to make the most of the opportunities to finish the window stronger than we went into it, and I think we’re in a good way to doing that so far.”

Can United win the title this year?

“It’s going to be a jump,” he answered- “I mean,whatever I say, it doesn’t really matter, whether I say we can or we can’t. Oh, I would never say we can’t, by the way. I don’t believe that. But whatever I say, it’s about what we do, and what we can do, what we’re capable of doing, what we believe we can do as a group.”

“I think the run of form that we had last season gives us a lot of confidence, but then we know there’s a whole new step to make as a group. We’re pushing to do that, you know, it’s exciting. I think we’ve got the potential to achieve things and we’re definitely giving everything that we can and we’ve got to believe that we’re a good team and we can do good things.”

The final question of this section was about Hull City being an unknown quantity.

“Well, that’s, that’s the beauty of the new season, you know,” Carrick responded. “I think certainly for teams coming up in the league, and for the most part there tends to be quite a few changes within the group and the playing group, so it’s always the challenge when you’re playing against them.”

“There’s that freshness, there’s that buzz around the football club of of coming into the Premier League and what that brings. So again, we’re fully aware of that. We’ll be prepared, obviously, mentally and physically. We’ve done a lot of work anyway, but mentally we’ll be prepared. We know what the game is going to bring and, and how good we need to be to get the right result.”

The embargoed section of the press conference will be released at 10.30pm on Friday and will be published here on thepeoplesperson.com shortly afterwards.