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

Newly-appointed permanent head coach of Manchester United, Michael Carrick, has been speaking to the media in the embargoed section of the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s final Premier League game of the season against Brighton.

The presser took place on Thursday, before the official announcement, so Carrick was speaking as interim manager at the time.

A partner for Mainoo

The first question of this section was “You’ve praised Kobbie Mainoo a lot since coming back to the football club. Just with a view to the summer, obviously Casemiro is set to leave. How important is it to find the right partner for Kobbie this summer in the transfer window?”

Carrick replied: “I mean, there’s a balance. There’s a balance as a football club because you’re not necessarily, whenever it is, bringing a player in just to play with one player.”

“I think it’s about fitting in with the squad, the balance of the squad. Being able to cope with playing here for different competitions for so many games. So it’s not necessarily— I’m talking quite broad here in general of any player – you’re not just bringing them just to play with one player.

“But certainly there’s a dynamic and there’s a balance that needs to be had. And the beauty about Kobbie is that he can do so many things well, and I think he’s proven that and he’s evolved so much in the 4 or 5 months that I’ve seen his progress. And that’s him! I’m not taking the credit for that. He’s done that himself.”

“But I think he’s shown that he can do so many things, so it makes bringing players in to play with a player like Kobbie a little bit easier when he can adapt himself. And I think he’s adapted over time playing a slightly different role for us already.”

Danny Welbeck

The second question was “You’ve known Danny Welbeck during his whole time at United. It feels like at Brighton he’s possibly played his best football. Are you surprised by how good he’s been at Brighton? How pleased are you for him?”

The boss replied: “I’m delighted with him. He scored against us too many times. He’s obviously been here, knowing him from so young. He’s a fantastic— I still call him a lad. He’s an old man now, but he makes me feel old, the fact that he’s that age.”

“But huge respect for him. I think he’s terrific coming through here through the academy and made a massive impact. And to have gone on and have the career he’s had and still be playing so well at that age just shows his mindset, his mentality, his attitude, all them things, and to enable you to play to 35. So he deserves a lot of credit for that, and I’m really delighted genuinely to see him doing so well.”

The transfer window

“You obviously had your last holiday rudely interrupted in January,” the next reporter observed. “Just wondering whether you’re going to be able to get away this summer, and if so, will it just be a case of it’s a fact of life now that the phone will have to be permanently switched on given the business that the club needs to do?”

“It’s the kids’ exams that are getting in the way at the moment,” he laughed. “A-levels and GCSEs, to be honest, that’s stopping me from booking anything.”

A reporter then asked “is there a danger that if United don’t have a good summer in the transfer market, that the positive work over the last 6 months is undone?”

The Wallsend man answered: “I think the beauty of the next transfer window for everybody, it’s always the biggest thing in the world, so, and the most important transfer window of all time for every club, I think. That’s just the nature of how it’s been created, to be honest.”

“And again, as a football club, you want to keep moving forward. We certainly do as a football club, want to keep moving forward. So I think it’s acknowledged we’re at this stage and the dynamics and the balance of the direction we’re at, where we’ve ended up getting to and finishing in the league. And there’s obviously work to do.”

“I know it’s quite obvious there’s certain players leaving that there’s a bit of work to do, but it’s not any more important, this one, than the last one, or it’s what’s ahead of us to, as a football club, to try and make the most of.”

Leaders to replace Casemiro

“As well as losing Casemiro’s quality on the pitch, he brings a lot of leadership off it,” a journalist said. “I know you’ve got Harry and Bruno as leaders as well, but have you seen kind of sort of a development in maturity of the sort of the younger players in the squad that shows that they could become kind of leaders in this squad?”

Carrick responded: “For sure I’ve seen development, a lot of development in different ways, and some of it you see on the pitch, some of it it’s obvious it’s there performance-wise, or it’s there’s a technical part of it, and the players are improving in that regard. But I think I’ve said it before again, sometimes it’s the feeling comfortable in the best way of being here and knowing what it feels like to play here and having an element of success, having an element of a few challenges and you come through it and you understand what it takes to get through it.”

“I think that as much as anything, and then you can grow and you can your character and your personality comes out even more. I’ve seen that for some of the younger players, and actually not just the younger players, some you can see, everyone that little bit more and growing when you’re getting good results or good performances. So I think leadership’s different from everyone. I think there’s some leader examples, some show it a little bit more vocally, but you can definitely see each and every player grow when you’re moving in the right direction, for sure.”

Holiday plans

“I appreciate why you can’t book holiday, but do you feel this job is more intense than other managerial jobs?” Carrick was asked. “I appreciate you’ve been at Middlesbrough. And do you feel like you need a break after quite an intense period here?”

“To be honest, no,” the manager replied. “I feel good, you know. You get in the rhythm of working, really, of different ways. I’m sure you have different hours to what I do. Some of you work more than others, I’m sure you do, but you get used to it, you get into the flow of it. I’ve loved it, I’ve loved every minute of it, so I certainly don’t feel that I need a break now.”

Guardiola exit

The final question was “I appreciate this is not Manchester United related, but there’s been a lot of speculation and storeys this week that Pep Guardiola is going to leave Manchester City after Sunday’s game. If that is the case, what would his legacy be in terms of his impact on English football, and how much of a loss will he be to the Premier League if indeed it is his last game?”

Carrick replied: “I don’t know it’s his last game for sure, so I don’t know, it’s difficult to kind of elaborate too much on that because pure respect for Pep and his family and Manchester City as a football club.”

“So he’s had a massive impact on football on these shores and throughout Europe in his time, you know, in terms of what he’s achieved is the standout. The way he’s done it and the teams and how he’s produced. Unfortunately, I’ve been on the other side of some of that and had some good results against him as well. So whether that is the end or not, if it’s going to carry on, I’m not getting involved in that one at the moment.”

For details of the first part of the presser, click here.

Featured image Warren Little via Getty Images

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