Michael Carrick lauds 'fantastic' youngsters after Manchester United put five past Rosenborg in pre-season friendly
Published 24/07/2026 at 22:00 GMT+1
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Michael Carrick believes his youth players ”deserved what they got” as four academy prospects got on the scoresheet for Manchester United in their 5-0 pre-season friendly win over Rosenborg in Trondheim, Norway.
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Shea Lacey, Jacob Devaney, Harry Amass and Ethan Williams all scored, while Joshua Zirkzee’s solo goal meant United emphatically bounced back from their loss to Wrexham on Saturday, July 18.
Like many Premier League managers, Carrick is missing several regular starters as they recuperate following their efforts at the FIFA World Cup.
However, the former midfielder was delighted to see his academy products taking the opportunity provided with both hands.
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He told MUTV: ”As much as you want everything to be improving and performances to be better all the time, I think keeping players fit and progressing through pre-season is as important as anything.
”The younger players coming on, I thought they were fantastic and played as a team and deserved what they got.
”I thought there were a lot of good things. Some of the goals were fantastic and [it is] just as pleasing to keep a clean sheet. We’re moving forward nicely.
”It’s the best place to be as a footballer when you’re in that zone, and you’re confident. It’s my job to try and get the players in that frame of mind.”
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Carrick also lauded 22-year-old goalkeeper Radek Vitek, who started and played 71 minutes, keeping a clean sheet.
The Czech shot-stopper is yet to play a competitive match for United, having spent the last three seasons on loan at Accrington Stanley, Blau-Weiss Linz and Bristol City.
He was deputising for Senne Lammens, who was knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup with Belgium.
One of the few unused substitutes was 15-year-old JJ Gabriel, who has dazzled in the youth set-up, being named the Premier League U18 Player of the Season last year.
"Radek got good minutes, just over 70, so really pleased with what he did today," Carrick said.
"I thought we defended pretty well as a team for the most part. A couple of little bits earlier on, we had to work out, but I thought we defended well as a team and protected the goalkeepers largely.
"But yeah, clean sheets are a beautiful thing."
Can Carrick's United challenge on all fronts next season?
The Red Devils have started their pre-season earlier than their other ‘Big Six’ rivals and any result against Rosenborg, who currently sit 10th in the Eliteserien, should be taken with a large pinch of salt.
However, Carrick’s starting line-up featured plenty of first-team members, including new signing Andrey Santos, as well as regular starters Bryan Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount.
It also represents a recovery from last week’s 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in Helsinki, despite fielding a strong team.
United travel to Stockholm to take on Atletico Madrid next, with fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds and AC Milan also on the horizon.
They get their Premier League campaign underway on Saturday, August 22 against newly-promoted Hull City, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max, before clashes with Ipswich, Everton, Manchester City and Fulham ahead of the international break.
Carrick will be eager to enjoy a full pre-season, having taken the helm in January as interim manager to replace Ruben Amorim.
He was handed the job on a permanent basis after guiding the 20-time Premier League winners to a third-placed finish, having taken over with his side down in seventh and out of all cup competitions.
The former Middlesbrough manager has spent a combined total of over £80 million on Santos and Youri Tielemans already this summer as he looks to bolster his squad to fight on multiple fronts.
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