📅 September 9, 2026

Carrick’s Sabah Press Conference: Shaw Rested, De Ligt “On a Good Track”, Sesko “Close”

By Mav Jones · Manchester United fan writer

Michael Carrick named nobody on Wednesday, and he explained why in nine words: “We play Thursday-Sunday-Wednesday and it’s what we’re here for.” United’s Champions League opener against Sabah kicks off at 3 PM Eastern on Thursday, live on Paramount+. The press conference that was supposed to settle the eleven confirmed something else instead. The derby is already in the room.

Three names actually moved: Luke Shaw, Matthijs de Ligt and Benjamin Sesko.

Shaw got an extra day, and that was all it was

Shaw and de Ligt both missed the open training session at Carrington. Neither absence was an injury. Asked whether Shaw would start, Carrick wouldn’t say.

“Yeah, we just gave him an extra recovery day today, Luke,” he said. “So, obviously, we’ll see tomorrow how he is but it’s not an ongoing thing or planning like that. Off the back of the game the other day, as normal, each individual has different little things we manage and Luke was one of them today.”

That’s a load-management answer, not a fitness one. Shaw played the full 90 at Everton on Sunday and is 31. With City three days after this, a rested left-back on Thursday reads like a man being kept for the weekend.

De Ligt is closer than the injury list makes him look

He still isn’t available on Thursday. But Carrick’s language on him has changed.

“We have to see,” he said of the defender’s potential return. “It’s positive. He’s trained really well but we’re still managing it, when you’re out for such a long period of time, you get to the final stages, pushing and pushing, and you’ve got to manage that last stage. It’s important to get that balance right to take the next step.”

“But he’s on a good track, in a good place and it’s great to have him back around us. Hopefully, some time soon.”

De Ligt hasn’t played since November 2025 and had back surgery in May, which cost him the World Cup. That’s ten months. Reports before the press conference pointed to a return around this month’s international break, and nothing Carrick said contradicted them. For a defence that has conceded six in three league games, he’s the most important name on the treatment table.

Sesko got the longest answer

Sesko scored as a substitute at Everton, and he’s the one player Carrick talked about at length without being pushed.

“Ben is close, obviously,” he added. “He’s obviously getting closer and closer. He missed a lot, since the Liverpool game, it’s a long time to miss. We had to manage it and get him fit, he trained three-and-a-bit weeks fully, with no restrictions.”

“You can see that coming onto the pitch, getting stronger and it was a fantastic goal, he did that an awful lot for us last season. It’s good to see him get on crosses and he’ll be part of each and every game. It’s just a case of when we take the next step, he’s in a good place.”

Read the last sentence again. “When we take the next step” is a manager describing a start he’s already decided to give, without saying which game gets it. Our preview argued Thursday is that game: a home tie against a side that has never played at this level, three days before the derby, with three full weeks of unrestricted training behind him. Nothing in that answer pointed the other way.

The rotation answer is the actual team news

Asked how he would handle the jump in fixtures, Carrick gave the most revealing answer of the afternoon.

“Well, it’s always a balanced view. I think it’s why we’ve got the squad, we’re pushing to have as strong a squad as possible, to be able to adapt to certain games, certain ways of playing and certain circumstances. We play Thursday-Sunday-Wednesday and it’s what we’re here for. It’s about managing the group and having trust in everyone able to play.”

Thursday-Sunday-Wednesday is Sabah, Manchester City at home at 11:30 AM Eastern, then Brighton in the Carabao Cup. Three games in seven days, and only one of them is the one everybody wants to win. “Trust in everyone able to play” is how a coach tells you the team sheet will look different from the one you’re expecting.

Who is out

United listed Amad, Carlos Baleba and Manuel Ugarte as injured, with de Ligt still working back. Marcus Rashford trained in front of the cameras despite being withdrawn in the second half at Everton, which settles the question our preview left open on Monday.

Beyond the club’s own list, ESPN carried Rashford and goalkeeper Tom Heaton as doubtful, giving Heaton an abdominal problem where earlier previews had described a hamstring. The two accounts don’t agree, and neither issue changes the shape of the side.

Sabah arrive close to full strength

United’s own preview names Khayal Aliyev as the visitors’ only confirmed absentee. The Azerbaijan international midfielder had an operation in Spain in June on a serious hamstring injury and hasn’t featured since. ESPN, by contrast, lists Sabah’s squad as fully available, so take your pick.

The threat is Joy-Lance Mickels and Veljko Simic. Mickels scored 19 league goals last season and 28 in all competitions. Simic scored in six of Sabah’s first seven qualifying matches on the way here.

How to watch in the United States

• Kick-off: Thursday 10 September, 3 PM Eastern, 12 PM Pacific, 8 PM in the UK.
• Streaming: Paramount+, which carries every Champions League match in the US. No TV login needed.
• Officials: Wily Delajod of France referees, with Jerome Brisard on VAR.
• Tickets: the club says seats are still available at Old Trafford.

Every remaining league-phase kick-off is converted to Eastern time on the schedule page, or add the fixtures to your calendar and they’ll land in your own time zone. The full US watch guide covers which service carries which competition.

What to watch for at 2 PM Eastern

The team sheet drops an hour before kick-off, and one name answers everything. Both outlets that have named a predicted eleven pick the same side, and Sesko starts in it. If Sesko starts, Carrick has decided the derby can be won with a squad rather than an eleven. If Sesko is on the bench again and the Everton side comes out largely intact, then Thursday is being treated as a game United can’t afford to experiment in. Neither reading is unreasonable after six goals conceded in three matches. Only one of them suggests a manager who trusts his own squad depth.

Sources: all Carrick quotes and United’s injury list from Manchester United — Team news: United v Sabah (Adam Marshall, 9 September 2026), reporting his pre-match press conference, which is also the source for Sabah’s team news on Khayal Aliyev and for tickets remaining. Kick-off times, officials, the doubtful list including Tom Heaton, and the note that Sabah’s squad is fully available from ESPN’s “Manchester United vs Sabah: TV channel, how to watch” (9 September 2026), which refuses automated fetches and so is not linked. De Ligt’s timeline from published reports before the press conference and not from the club. Mickels’ and Simic’s numbers as cited in our own 7 September preview. US broadcast per CBS Sports’ Champions League rights. Accurate as of the afternoon of 9 September 2026; the confirmed eleven follows an hour before kick-off.