A tricky trip to Hill Dickinson Stadium is next in store for Manchester United when they face Everton on Monday (February 23rd). The Old Trafford faithful won’t need reminding of what happened the last time the two sides met in November.
A Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall strike led to a 1-0 victory for the Toffees despite playing the majority of the game with 10 men. It was a night to forget for the Reds, one of the season’s lowest points.
Michael Carrick wasn’t in charge for that game and will be eager to continue his unbeaten reign as interim coach. His side head to Merseyside unbeaten in their last five outings.
United’s four-game winning streak ended when they were held to a 1-1 draw away to West Ham United last time out. Carrick’s have no new injury setbacks as they look to avenge their defeat to David Moyes’ side from earlier this season.
Carrick on Mount and De Ligt
The draw against West Ham saw Benjamin Sesko come off the bench and score a delightful last-gasp equaliser. It feels like a lifetime ago that the Reds were in action.
Manchester United sat out last weekend’s FA Cup action following their third-round exit at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion. This allowed Carrick to prepare for the Everton game and his players to get a lengthy rest.
The time off hasn’t resulted in either Mason Mount or Matthijs de Ligt returning from injury. Carrick spoke in his pre-match press conference and confirmed both will be absent on Monday (via the club’s official website):
“Yeah, Mason’s getting closer. I think we’re going to be patient as well, and we have been patient with him, so we don’t want to push anything. He’s an important part of the group, Mason, and we want him back and fit and he’ll have a big impact for us. So, he’s getting closer, which is good for us.”
Mount has endured an injury-ridden spell at Old Trafford since arriving from Chelsea in the summer of 2023 for £60 million. He is currently nursing a knock and hasn’t appeared since coming off the bench in a 2-0 win over Manchester City (January 17th).
Carrick added:
“Matta, a little bit working towards it, but as I said last week, he’s a little bit behind Mason, really, so we’re just trying to work with him, to progress him, to get him a bit closer.”
De Ligt has been sidelined since November with a back problem, and the Dutchman’s absence was felt. He had been vital during the first half of the season, and he has yet to play under Carrick.
There was no need for the caretaker manager to give an update on Patrick Dorgu. The Danish winger is lengthy period with a thigh injury he sustained in a 3-2 win over Arsenal (January 25th).
Carrick admits break was beneficial
It’s been an extremely busy period for Carrick and his coaching staff since they arrived at the club in mid-January. The games have come thick and fast for his troops and fatigue appeared to set in during the draw against West Ham.
Carrick spoke about his players being able to use the time off during FA Cup matchweek to work on their match sharpness. He said:
“Yeah, we try to make it useful, you know, the break that we’ve had at the moment. I think we’re trying to make [it] in different ways. I think it was important… I think when there’s change, and the kind of month or so that we had together, I think it was important for everyone to, you know, have a couple of days to digest that and take it in.”
The Red Devils are in impressive form, having gone nine games without defeat. It’s helped propel them into the top four, where they sit after 26 games.
Adjusting and adapting
The next break for Carrick and his players comes at the end of March when the international break arrives. Some of his troops will likely be in action for their nations and those not called up will remain at Carrington.
Carrick touched on this:
“The boys have trained a bit, had a few days off, trained a bit again, and not only of getting the balance right, but keeping the rhythm, keeping the sharpness, keeping the focus, which the boys have been, I have to say, really good in training again. And then, yeah, moving forward, the fixtures have thrown up some mixture of gaps between games really. So [it’s] just adjusting and adapting and we’ll see what kind of comes with that, especially obviously the international [break] and then a bit of a break after that. So, we’ll manage it as we go, but we’ll obviously try and make the best of it.”
Carrick’s superb start to his second tenure as interim coach has led to talk of him permanently replacing Ruben Amorim. A win over Everton will further intensify speculation over the club’s legendary former midfielder taking over long-term.
The players have taken to his coaching team’s approach and reaped the rewards. They are now well rested and ready to try and win their fifth game under Carrick at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
