Michael Carrick said the mentality shown by his side after falling behind was the most pleasing aspect of Manchester United’s 5-2 win over Ipswich.
A Bruno Fernandes hat-trick, Brian Mbomo’s superb strike and Jacob Greaves’ own goal gave United a resounding win, but Carrick was keen to focus on the character shown after Liv-Davis’ early opener.
“The thing I’m most happy with is dealing with setbacks, if you want to be a good or successful team,” Carrick said.
“Every team gets beaten, or has to deal with setbacks in certain ways. We talked before the game about trying to overcome it last week, and we had a little setback by one goal.
“The stubbornness, belief, confidence and cooperation that the boys showed at that stage was very pleasing to me. This mentality is what we rely on today.”
Fernandes inevitably dominated the post-match conversation, but Carrick was equally keen to highlight the performance of Kobe Maino, who was impressive in his first start of the season.
He said: “I understand that Bruno got a lot of praise today, and he deserves it too, but I think Kobe was great in midfield for us and enhanced the team’s performance.” “In terms of the performance today, there is not much that can be improved. He was very, very good in his first start.”
Fernandez gave flowers
Regarding Fernandes himself, Carrick was equally direct. “It doesn’t surprise me. It’s just the kind of thing you get sorted when you lose games.
“Just because we lose a match, doesn’t mean that everything is fine, that things have gone awry, that they don’t want to play, that they’re not motivated or that they’re not leaders. The best teams lose football matches. Together, the boys have recovered well from different setbacks, and this will stand us in good stead moving forward.”
Marcus Rashford’s return to the starting line-up, his first Premier League match at Old Trafford in almost two years, also sparked warm words from the United boss.
Rashford was strongly linked with a move to Barcelona during the summer before staying at the club. “He’s one of us, he’s living his dream of playing here now and trying to be successful and win,” Carrick said.
“I think there are players who have gone and come back at times and maybe players who were going to leave but didn’t. It’s all about what you do next and what your intentions are, and he’s been fantastic since he’s come back. It was great to see him out on the field today.”
