Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick said he tried to avoid "giving players the answers" in their 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg.
Slow start costs United
The Reds were slow out of the blocks on Saturday and PSG made them pay. Ibrahim Mbaye scored from close range after two minutes when he sneaked behind Ayden Heaven at the back post. Following the disappointing start, United managed to regroup and forced some good saves from Matvey Safonov before eventually equalising. Amad won possession in the PSG half before laying the ball off for Bryan Mbeumo to score.
Second-half improvement
United were much the better side in the second half but couldn't break down PSG for the winner. Speaking after the game, Carrick insisted he was happy with the workout and was particularly pleased by one element of it.
"Yeah, a little bit, not as much as we would normally," the United head coach told MUTV when asked if the Reds had focused on PSG during their pre-match preparations.
"A lot of it this time is trying to build on the things that we're trying to put in. It [the planning] was a lot smaller than what the boys are used to and a lot of the things that we were trying to get out of the game, a lot of that was there as well.
"I think it is good a lot of the time for the boys to problem solve and find their own way a bit, and I thought we did that. I don't want to always give them the answers when we don't have to because it prepares them a bit for the new season as well. In that respect, there were a lot of things that people don't always see that we were very happy with. There were some good signs there."
Looking ahead to Dublin
The draw in Gothenburg marked United's fourth game of pre-season. Carrick's men now head to Dublin for a short pre-season training camp where the final members of the squad will return to the group.
This will include Marcus Rashford after his loan spell at Barcelona ended. "I am looking forward to it," Carrick said ahead of the trip to Dublin. "It has been a different chapter this pre-season but it will be good to get everyone together in Dublin over the next couple of days.
"Two more games this coming week and I am looking forward to seeing the group develop. Today, the boys coming off the bench added that extra bit of quality coming back from the World Cup. They are top, top players and it was nice to have them back. We get more back next week so we are in a good place."
Upcoming fixtures
Next up, United will face Leeds at Croke Park on Wednesday night before facing former head coach Ruben Amorim's new side AC Milan in Wroclaw to finish their pre-season. United's first Premier League game is two weeks away at Hull City.
