I don't think you can draw any conclusions about Carrick's approach to squad fitness from pre-season games in a world cup summer where many of our players have just got back from holiday.
Michael Carrick | 2025/26 Manager Performances
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Indeed. It was Tielemans, Bruno and Cunha's first starts, and none of them looked match fit, which is entirely unsurprising.
Not ideal but hardly an embarrassment. Pep and Arteta also lost to him and I don't think they're losing any also sleep over it.
This surely takes the cake for the funniest overreaction post on here. Guy who managed to beat literally every top side, had the best record in the league since taking over, got us into a comfortable top 3 finish has "failed" to prove he's better than the previous guy with a historically bad record because he lost to him in a meaningless friendly
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I was pointing something out that was mentioned by the media, which many posters also questioned last season when we put in some lethargic performances. Obviously we developed a knack of turning less chances for, and more chances against, under Carrick, into better results. We became more efficient individually in both boxes. But a lot of supporters, particularly after Ole and ETH, recognise that it is often wise to think critically about actual performances and certain trends when trying to evaluate progress in the long run.
It’s a football forum mate. There’s honestly no need to get so defensive over criticisms or, in this case, merely mentioning observations/things that have been reported.
I jumped in because multiple posters asked what this was based on. I was simply adding context to his point. It is then up to the posters to draw their own conclusions.
His fitness methods were proven when he rebuilt Sporting completely and made them into a dominant side in their domestic league, made them into tough CL side who could go toe to toe with much bigger teams, and then dragged our lazy players into playing with more intensity etc. For years our fans wanted aggressive football and he delivered it. I’m commenting on his fitness methods only here, in case that needs pointing out again.
We put in more lethargic performances under Amorim though. It seemed like every time we had a chance to get into the top four we just wouldn’t show up. Some fans seem to have completely forgotten how lacklustre we were in the Autumn. More often than not under Carrick we fought for wins through the 90 mins even when we weren’t at our best.
Have you just completely forgotten how many games under Amorim we failed to play with intensity? When we were lacklustre, routinely outfought and out thought by lower table teams, especially in the second halves of games.
Passing it back and forth between our central backs and then lumping it into the channels isn’t some great indicator of intensity. Our front line pressed more aggressively, but our defence was routinely exposed because of that.
Jesus Christ. He had a great finish to the season last year, but somehow this preseason friendly is his true measure? Get a grip...
Not defensive. Just probing. You have to accept a bit of it when you post at times.
People are heavily over-reacting to that result because of the Amorim factor.
If we make strong start to the season, Hell even if we just beat Hull on the first day, nobody will give a feck about this result.
If we make strong start to the season, Hell even if we just beat Hull on the first day, nobody will give a feck about this result.
Zirkzee actually scored 2 last season, which is one more than Delap did for Chelsea. And that is despite Zirkzee really not getting much playing time from Amorim or Carrick.
At least its killed the cesspit that is the Amorim thread for a while.
But Carrick needs more backing, Ineos are letting him down right now.
The squad depth is not enough to challenge on all fronts this season.
At the end of the day, this was just a friendly so no harm done.
Carrick and Ineos will be judged over the following season.
But Carrick needs more backing, Ineos are letting him down right now.
The squad depth is not enough to challenge on all fronts this season.
At the end of the day, this was just a friendly so no harm done.
Carrick and Ineos will be judged over the following season.
Thank you. This is a very balanced take that I totally respect.
p.s. I was taking a jab at Delap. Call me bitter but him choosing Chelsea over us, last summer and then flopping badly was definitely entertaining and delightful to watch, even if I never wanted him. I would still insist that Zirkzee didnt flop with us the same way Delap did at Chelsea. We just simply have zero use for Zirkzee's profile and should have never signed him. But that is a minor point, so not worth arguing about
Cheers
Hull and Ispwich back to back should settle things down, because both are games we should win even with whatever flaws we have.
Hull in particular are being cited as one of the worst sides to get promoted in a very long time.
Today's result doesn't matter at any point. The performance does. And the performance was awful. Play like that against Hull and the results will match too.
Quite a few people are still on the fence with Carrick's appointment and if we stutter through the first couple of games, the pressure will be immediately ramped up to eleven. It's guaranteed the Ole comparisons will be back in force and it won't be pretty.
Not the result, the performance. They deserved to win comfortably. One of our goals was a gift as well. Our midfield looked terrible..
Are you not worried at all after this game?
Hahahahahahahahahaha
Maybe the fact he won more games in a month than Amorim did in about 6
But no, a pre season fecking friendly is how to judge whether he’s better.
Judging from the Caf today, we're already at that point.
He still needs about 4/5 new players who are actually good. We'll be lucky to get one more and it will cost him/us this season.
We've seen this before. A manager has a relatively good season for us, we don't properly push on by having a good transfer window the following season, and it all goes to pot.
It also depends on what our goals are. If we don't care about doing anything in the Champions League like the past 15 years and just want to try and scrape a top 5 finish in the league, we might be alright. If the plan is to cement ourselves up there with Arsenal and City, and want to actually make an impression in Europe, we're way off with this squad.
Carrick may not end up a success but I think he has potential as a manager, and it's a shame that it's looking like we're not giving him the best platform to succeed by improving the team.
We've seen this before. A manager has a relatively good season for us, we don't properly push on by having a good transfer window the following season, and it all goes to pot.
It also depends on what our goals are. If we don't care about doing anything in the Champions League like the past 15 years and just want to try and scrape a top 5 finish in the league, we might be alright. If the plan is to cement ourselves up there with Arsenal and City, and want to actually make an impression in Europe, we're way off with this squad.
Carrick may not end up a success but I think he has potential as a manager, and it's a shame that it's looking like we're not giving him the best platform to succeed by improving the team.
I'll respond to both your comment and @Borys' here. I'm not overly concerned about the result or performance in this match because pre-season is honestly just weird. I won't pretend I know enough about football to know why but I do know, based on every single season I can remember, that pre-season is just really odd.
There have been quite a few seasons where I remember the mood being very upbeat following pre-season, only for us to be a bit cr@p once the season kicked off. Equally, I remember a few seasons in the latter stages of Fergie's reign where the pre-season results weren't great and we were top of the league after five matches.
I'll be honest and say there's no real science behind what I'm saying here. I don't know if there's any publicly available analysis that's been done on the correlation between results in pre-season and results early in the season but just based on my recollection, it's never been a particularly great barometer of how we're going to do.
I think you're mostly correct in the assessment that pre-season doesn't necessarily indicate how well a club will do during the regular season. Still though, with today's game being our last game before the season kicks off, you'd have thought the team would look a little bit more cohesive, fit and overall ready. And no matter how we want to weigh the impressions gained today, I don't think anyone was able to take any encouragement from that display.
Why would anyone be worried after a pre season friendly?
The club isn't setting him up for success. Regardless to what you think of him, he hasn't been backed properly and this squad isn't ready for europe. The season starts next week and we're still trying to find value in the market, so we'll unnecessarily drop some points early on, and by Nov he'll be under extreme pressure.
I certainly hoped for that, but perhaps that was optimistic when 2/3 of our midfield have only just returned to the squad and when the three of them haven't played together yet. Add in Cunha who also looked sluggish, and who isn't well suited to that role anyway, and this game didn't feel like a final pre-season game - for some key players in key parts of the pitch it felt like an early pre-season game. That's a concern with Hull coming so soon, of course.
Carrick said we played badly he knew it and the player know it, it happens rather it now than next week we move on
He needs to demand signings or will be seen as a yes man. Sad fact is he's the one will lose his job over the board not backing him.
He already has unless you missed his interviews this week already
Mad to think Milan have backed Amorim more than we've backed Carrick considering Carrick saved our season and got us into the CL.
Been thrown right under the bus. Not sure why we didn't go for someone like Hackney purely for the legs.
Other than the lack of signings, the other problem is the coaching staff he has around him doesn't fill you with confidence.
Especially as it's the same staff who delivered many underwhelming performances last season (despite the initial start and ultimate outcome in terms of results).
Because we looked shite against an Italian side. We were almost full strength, and we are a week away from serious football where most likely our vulnerabilities will be even more exploited.
It wasn't just a friendly. It was the closest to a competitive game we played in this pre season.
Are you not worried at all after this performance? You don't see lack of athletism in midfield as an issue, even if that's mostly Tielemans and Mainoo not up to speed? Bruno form doesn't worry you? Or Shaw lack of speed?
No not really. I’m not arsed.
That doesn’t even make sense. Why was this particular game the “closest to a competitive game” compared with any other pre season friendly? They’re still all just friendlies.
And in terms of pre-season fitness we definitely weren't full strength. On paper the likes of Tielemans, Bruno and Cunha are amongst our stronger players, but in practice for this game they’ve only recently returned to the club and are behind the others in terms of match fitness. So it’s not really that surprising they looked sluggish compared to others who are further ahead.
As for the lack of athleticism in midfield, I feel the same way I’ve done all summer - we still need to add another CM. Same with Shaw - we needed a new LB back in May and we still need one now. This performance against Milan hasn’t changed these things - we already knew them.
Only negative for me was the lack of tactical changes by Carrick
You answered your own question. Many players are not upto speed. Cunha, Manino, Tielemans, Bruno and others are not nearly upto speed and likely not wanting to risk injury pre Hull next week.
Carrick's interview with Laurie, as mild as it was, was probably pretty punchy for him. I think he sees this squad needs more, he's not blind. There's only so much Carrick can do with the additions he's been given, I think the talk of training sessions is nonsense. Holland was assistant to Conte, there's no chance he's doing light sessions.
They're not the issue though. It's the back line IMO, who have been here all summer.
Well he is a yes man, always was. That’s why the board went for him in the first place, not cause of his outstanding managerial skills.
Well, there not particularly good players to start with, so a year older, Maguire and Shaw are not going to suddenly develop the recovery pace they need to be able to play a high line.
It’s a bad combination. Slow and the back with a back line that doesn’t feel comfortable holding a high line, with a midfield that’s not athletic enough to cover the midfield space that the back line creates by forever dropping deep.
Unfortunately yes, I think Carricks in a tough spot without some real additions before the end of the window. He's pragmatic though, I think he'll just have to revert to last season's style. I can't see him continuing to push us higher with no one new.
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