Michael Carrick says Manchester United are still assessing Benjamin Sesko, whose latest problem is in a similar area to a previous shin complaint, with the length of his absence not yet clear.
Speaking during the embargoed section of his pre-match press conference before tomorrow’s Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, Carrick also provided updates on Carlos Baleba and JJ Gabriel while discussing United’s schedule, recent break and conversations with the club’s hierarchy.
United prepare for Tottenham after a three-week break
The Red Devils return to action against Spurs following three weeks without a club fixture, a gap Carrick described as longer than he would have preferred.
United’s coaching staff have used that period to review performances and plan for the forthcoming run of Premier League and Champions League matches. Carrick said the break offered time to identify both the positive aspects of United’s play and areas requiring improvement.
Injuries have complicated those preparations. Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui were both referenced during the press conference as Carrick explained the importance of adapting when players become unavailable.
Baleba, meanwhile, has been training on the grass and featured for a limited period in a training game last week. His return would increase the options available in a midfield which Carrick has already said he is happy with.
That area of the team has been under scrutiny throughout Carrick’s spell in charge. It was previously argued by The Peoples Person that deploying Bruno Fernandes as a false nine could offer one potential way to address two tactical issues.
Gabriel’s situation was also raised after previous suggestions that the teenager could be included against Brighton. Separate speculation surrounding interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona was covered earlier by The Peoples Person.
Carrick addresses injuries, Gabriel and Baleba
Reporter: “[Regarding Ben Sesko], it sounds like it’s a recurrence of the hip injury that kept him out for about four months in the summer. How much of a concern is it that that injury has come back and how do you go about managing that? Because if it’s something that’s going to keep coming back, do you need to look at potential surgery and things like that or just rest?”
Carrick: “Yeah, well, the original was the shin anyway, so yeah, it was a shin. It’s not the exact issue, it’s a similar area but it’s not the exact same thing again, and we’re still working through it a little bit of seeing how long the issue will be. We’re hoping that’ll be soon, obviously, but at this moment it’s still not quite clear.”
Reporter: “Is it something where you look to do rest, and then if rest doesn’t work, you maybe look at kind of more long-term solutions and things like that?”
Carrick: “Yeah, there’s different things to look at. He recovered really well actually from the initial one and there was a lot of time and sometimes the body does certain things and we’ve got to react to that and try and get him back as quick as we can.”
Reporter: “Hi Michael, just on JJ Gabriel, the information was that he was going to be on the bench for the Brighton game. Was that a collective decision to have him in the squad that night or was that a selection foisted onto you?”
Carrick: “No, I think that was after the City game, which he hadn’t been around for them days really. So things can change. We always have plans for certain things and certain ideas for younger players, whether they’re involved in squads, whether they’re not involved in squads, but nothing was concrete at that stage anyway.”
Reporter: “I know a few of us have written about it, but from your part, is there any shift, anything changed on—”
Carrick: “No, no, nothing’s changed at all.”
On speaking to INEOS
Reporter: “Hi, Michael. Over the three weeks, with the time away from club football, have you spoken to your bosses about this team despite the results, you feeling it being on the right track?”
Carrick: “Yeah, there’s always conversations going on, of course. In all different directions, we’re striving to be better all the time, so there’s things that we’re actually doing pretty well and there’s things that we need to get better at and we’re pretty clear with that, I think, as a group, as a squad. The players certainly are.
“Oobviously kind of layers above me as well in terms of conversations and where we’re at. I think we’re calm in some ways and we understand where we want to get to, how we want to get there and what it takes to get there and what we’ve done previous to prove we can get good results.
“But that doesn’t mean we’re calm in terms of—we need to have a little bit of fire moving forward in terms of how we play, how we perform, what that means, and getting the best out of each other. So we need to keep pushing for more.”
On rotation and the three-week break
Reporter: “Hi, Michael. Obviously the next two weeks you’ve got quite a cramped schedule with Premier League games and Champions League games. Are you having to change the way that you manage at all compared to maybe last season, instead of just picking teams for a Saturday, having to think about a week later or maybe 10 days later just to make sure you’ve got that balance and that freshness all the time?”
Carrick: “Yeah, there’s obviously an adaptation definitely that takes place. I think just in terms of training time and planning for games, it is slightly different. It’s not unusual though, really. It’s just a slight adaptation to what we’ve had for maybe, what was it, five months or so? But certainly a little bit of planning, what type of games, what suits certain players, what it looks like. There’s definitely a lot that goes into it for sure.”
Reporter: “It’s obviously something that you went through as a player, obviously when Sir Alex was having to do the same things to you. Do you kind of lean on the things that he used to do and the conversations he had with you as a player when you’re talking to your squad now? Because obviously I imagine players want to play all the time, but they just can’t because of the schedule.”
Carrick: “Yeah, that’s players for you. That’s not their job to worry about what games they’re playing. But yeah, of course, I think that’s experience, experience in different ways that I’ve kind of lived through and seen it from different perspectives. That’s definitely something that you kind of use.
“And experience just comes to you just instinctively at times of thinking what the right thing is to do and how to behave, how to adapt. And then certainly what previously, what’s worked, I think is important. Maybe what hasn’t worked as well is just as important, and that’s experience and using the best part of it.
“But without doubt, yes, me being here for a longer period of time and as a player, I still draw upon those moments to act and kind of feed information to the players in different ways, going into different games and different schedules.”
Reporter: “Hi, Michael. It’s been quite a long break, three weeks. Given the start you’ve had over this first five or six games, do you think it’s come at a good or bad time having this break? And I appreciate you’ve not had the players with you all the time, but for you personally and your coaching team, have you had a chance to have a bit of a kind of like a reset over this past three weeks?”
Carrick: “Yeah, I’ll be totally honest, it’s not ideal. It’s a long break, probably too long really from my perspective, and it feels like a long time. But then of course we’ve made the most of it.
“I think there’s been, regardless of results, when you’ve had a period like this and international breaks in general are normally a time where you can have a bit of a review and a bit of a plan of what’s next. This one’s been extra long and it certainly gives us an opportunity, like I said before, some of the good things that we’re still doing, to not lose that. And certainly think we need to clean up on other things to help us get better results.”
Reporter: “Hi, Michael. In terms of this break, obviously you say you’ve reviewed everything. Is it so long that there’s a risk of overthinking a lot of what’s happened before? You might think it’s worse than it has been or better than it has been. Is that, when you use so much time to discuss it, is that part of the problem?”
Carrick: “Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s a problem, but it’s definitely something to be aware of, of getting the balanced view and understanding and the reality and what direction we want to head and what we want to do more of. What you want to hide a little bit and do less of is basically play to your strengths. And we want to keep doing that as much as we possibly can.
“But surely there’s times when you can overdo it both ways, try and overfix things or try and overcoach or try and overhelp and try and overplay or try and overtry sometimes and become that, doing things that maybe don’t come natural to you. So there’s definitely a case of overdoing things, but it’s always about what’s next and doing the right thing for what’s going to help us move forward.”
Reporter: “Is that sort of exacerbated maybe as well by injuries where you sort of, you don’t know, with Patrick Dorgu and Mazraoui, did you think, what, at the start of the international break, you’ll have five players available that won’t be when you get back?”
Carrick: “So yeah, I think we always have a plan of, like I said there, about the games coming up and maybe a cluster of games and what it looks like, but then adapting again is crucial. Injuries unfortunately are part of the game. You don’t always know where they’re going to come in and what stage.
“Sometimes it’s in the same position, sometimes it’s spread, sometimes you have a few, sometimes you have not a lot. You can’t certainly plan for that, but adapting and having the right balance is important.”
Carlos Baleba’s progress
Reporter: “Hi, Michael. Can I just ask a little bit about Carlos [Baleba]? You’ve been saying he’s been training a lot. Like, how ready is he? And also, what do you see him bring into this midfield that he can add from the first few weeks of the season where he’s not been available?”
Carrick: “Yeah, he’s certainly getting closer, Carlos. It’s been great to have him out on the grass and to see him up close really, and played a little bit in a training game that we had last week. So that was good for him to get some minutes.
“And I think the other side of it a little bit, he has missed a lot and he’s missed crucial time in terms of the end of pre-season. There’s a little bit of patience there for him to get up to speed, and that’s up to us to kind of pick that right time for him as well.
“But he offers us a lot. I’ve said it before, the midfield that we’ve got, we’re really happy with, and the selections and the options that we have, and he definitely adds to that.”
Read every word of the first part of this press conference here.
Final Thoughts
United are assessing Ben Sesko’s injury, which is in a similar area to an earlier shin problem.
Carlos Baleba played some minutes in a training game last week and will be managed carefully.
Carrick said nothing has changed regarding JJ Gabriel.
United face Tottenham at Old Trafford after a three-week break.