Carrick admits ‘no excuses’ as Man Utd end pre-season with Milan defeat

Manchester United closed their pre-season programme with a chastening 4-2 defeat by Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan in Wroclaw, but Michael Carrick insists his squad are ready for the visit of promoted Hull City in next weekend’s Premier League opener.

United twice took the lead in Poland, through Harry Maguire and then Patrick Dorgu, only to be pegged back and eventually overrun by a Milan side managed by Carrick’s predecessor at Old Trafford. Ruben Loftus-Cheek completed the scoring for the Italian club, capping a result that leaves United having finished the summer with three wins, a draw and two defeats from their six friendlies.

Speaking to MUTV afterwards, Carrick did not hide his frustration. “We’re disappointed with today. We didn’t play well today,” he said. “There’s reasons for that in some ways [but] we need to learn from it, we need to improve. Some of the boys were playing their first minutes. There’s different reasons anyway. No excuses, we just didn’t play very well today.”

Rashford back among returning faces

There were significant positives buried within the scoreline. Marcus Rashford made his first Manchester United appearance since December 2024, wearing the vacant number nine shirt, while Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Martinez both featured for the first time this pre-season after coming off the bench.

Bruno Fernandes and Youri Tielemans played the full 90 minutes, and Luke Shaw also completed the match, though United struggled defensively whenever Milan switched play towards their right flank, with gaps opening between defence and midfield that were repeatedly exploited.

Recent signing Andrey Santos, who had impressed in United’s earlier pre-season fixtures, endured a tougher afternoon as his inexperience was exposed by a sharp Milan side. Goalkeeper Senne Lammens was called upon to limit the damage, with three of Milan’s four goals coming from close range.

Mount and Sesko doubts for Hull trip

Despite the defeat, Carrick struck a broadly upbeat tone when assessing the summer as a whole, which included wins over Rosenborg and Atletico Madrid alongside the reverses against Milan and Wrexham. “It’s been very good,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of positives to take from it. A lot of the performances, I think the group has grown and got stronger.”

Mason Mount, who has missed almost three matches with a foot problem picked up in Gothenburg, remains a doubt for the trip to Hull City, along with Benjamin Sesko. Carrick will hope to have a fuller squad available as United begin a season in which they are aiming to compete across four competitions, with just a week to turn things around before the Premier League gets under way.

Read more: Arsenal explore Osimhen move as Liverpool push for Barcola, Man Utd eye left-back

Sources

• Evening Standard
• BBC Sport
• The Mirror

This is an independent report written from the facts across the sources named above.