Michael Carrick Accepts No Excuses After Manchester United’s 4-2 Preseason Loss to AC Milan

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick acknowledged there were “no excuses” for his team’s 4-2 defeat against AC Milan in a preseason match held in Wroclaw. The Red Devils led twice during the game against the Serie A side, now coached by former Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim. This marked United’s second defeat in a total of six preseason matches, having previously secured a victory over Atletico Madrid and a draw with European champions Paris Saint-Germain.

In a post-match interview with MUTV, Carrick noted, “On the whole, [preseason has] been very good, I think there’s a lot of positives to take from it.” However, he expressed disappointment regarding the performance against Milan, stating, “We didn’t play well today, so there are reasons for that. In some ways, we need to learn from it, we need to improve, some of the boys playing some of their first minutes.” He added, “There’s different reasons anyway — no excuses, we just didn’t play very well today.”

The match began positively for Manchester United as Harry Maguire scored within the first 100 seconds. However, Samuel Chukwueze quickly equalized for Milan. In the second half, Patrick Dorgu put United back in the lead before a rapid succession of goals from Alphadjo Cissè, Gonçalo Ramos, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek turned the match decisively in Milan’s favor.

Notably, Marcus Rashford made his return to the pitch for Manchester United after his loan stint at Barcelona, appearing for the first time since December 2024. He was introduced in the 60th minute, among six changes Carrick made throughout the match. Carrick remarked, “A lot of the boys will be better for the minutes. We’ve got a good squad, so there’s decisions to be made.”

Manchester United’s Premier League campaign is set to begin on August 22 with an away fixture against newly-promoted Hull City.

Special Credits: Image Courtesy of Espn