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But he quickly clarified, "we want to be excited - that's why we love this club. I'm fully aware that we need to do it in a certain way".

Carrick echoed the sentiment of the architect of United's most successful era, Sir Alex Ferguson, who in 2017 said: "I think you have a duty to entertain. We have to always remember there's a public to be entertained."

'United DNA' has often been referenced when fans, ex-players and pundits have discussed the club in recent years.

And after failed attempts from managers to mould the team into a slower, more measured, possession-heavy side, Carrick is aiming to create a style and system that mirrors United's traditions.

Before the Red Devils kick off their Premier League season at Hull City this Saturday (12:30 BST) what have we learned from how Carrick has approached pre-season tactically?

Balancing fast attacks with controlled possession

Beginning with the shape of United's squad provides much-needed context, but it is important to note that much of their play is based on tactical principles, not just formations.

In build-up play, United have looked to play short.

Former manager Ruben Amorim's solution to the increase in man-to-man pressure across the Premier League was to encourage goalkeeper Senne Lammens to play long. This was to avoid the risk associated with short passing - something he tried to mixed results early in his tenure.

Carrick has instead looked to revert United's mindset here, asking them to take that risk again.

The shape his team have used from goal-kicks has been a 4-2-4 with Lammens between the two central defenders. The front four play in a very fluid manner with the four defenders and two central midfielders taking up more consistent positions behind them.

Overall, building out from the back has been a promising part of United's game in pre-season and where we have most clearly seen some of the principles Carrick has tried to instil in his squad.

Going back to Amorim's United once more, when they did play out from the back, they would execute pre-planned passing routines.

Carrick's United instead look to escape pressure through trios of players passing the ball between each other in a less choreographed manner.

Pre-season coaching has reinforced the players' understanding around supporting team-mates to create clusters of threes.

Which three players converge differs throughout the game and the players are given a level of personal responsibility to interpret the match during it.

More specifically, a collective principle being taught to the players is to look to make third-man runs - often off the back of their marker - to receive the ball with time and space.

Once United have broken the opposition's initial pressure in the described manner, they often find themselves in open space with pacy attackers ahead of them ready to attack in a more direct fashion.

The signings of technical, deep-lying midfielders aid these overarching concepts.

Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Mason Mount in particular have combined well to help United get up the pitch. This style of play suits the strengths of Kobbie Mainoo too, who returned to action with a cameo in Saturday's 4-2 defeat by AC Milan.

The increased responsibility players have to interpret the game has benefits and trade-offs as with all tactical approaches.

Against Milan, we saw the introduction of arguably United's best player last season, Bruno Fernandes. Alongside Tielemans and Santos, the midfield trio struggled to build up and create a solid platform upon which United could dominate the ball.

The natural instincts of these players in the conditions of the game resulted in a United side that looked to play forward too often and too early - resulting in turnovers and a lack of control.

Carrick wants United to maximise the quality of their fast attackers by playing more vertically - pleased when his side transition from their half into the opponent's with as few passes as necessary, while also hoping United do not lose the ball carelessly.

United's high-risk, high-reward pressing

Out of possession, United have looked to press high. Starting in a 4-2-4 formation again, players hold their positions before springing to press certain opponents when the moment is right.

We have established that Carrick is keen to embrace United's front-footed DNA, looking to be proactive in their set-up this season rather than giving the opponent too much respect by sitting deep. Their defensive tactics feed into this.

The 4-2-4 leaves four attackers high and narrow. This is for a number of reasons. First, defending in this way blocks the centre of the pitch making it difficult for opponents to find players through the middle. Generally coaches, including Carrick, are more willing to concede possession in wide areas, considering the middle of the pitch more dangerous.

Secondly, the front four are positioned with United's counter-attack in mind. If United are able to win the ball back, they can quickly find four attackers closer to goal against fewer defenders. Their press becomes a method of chance creation.

This paid dividends in the 1-1 draw against Paris St-Germain, resulting in their equaliser. After winning the ball, United found themselves four against four in PSG's final third, before Bryan Mbeumo scored.

AC Milan's win against United, however, may have provided clues as to how teams might counteract Carrick's defensive set-up - notably with the use of a 5-2-3 formation.

United's two central attackers would look to block passes into Milan's midfield two before pressing the defenders.

Milan's wing-backs would drop very deep, making it easy for the central defenders to find them around United's narrow front four.

This required United's full-back to cover a large distance to close down the wing-back on the ball. By the time pressure was applied, the ball had already been moved on.

With how fast the tactical landscape changes in the Premier League, Carrick will have to be nimble in how his side defends against such solutions.

Looking at both the tactics Carrick has used in pre-season and the signings United have made, the story of the season will likely revolve around the difficult task of moving away from relying solely on the counter-attack, something they used so effectively towards the end of last season.

After starting brightly, Erik ten Hag and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stumbled when they looked to bridge that same gap in the hopes of remaining direct and dangerous when needed, while also controlling games for longer periods. %!s()

Even after Rubin Colwill's punishing Cardiff City equaliser denied Wrexham the Welsh derby bragging rights in the last moments of Monday's game, it was hard to shift the smile of a striker who knows the importance of a fast start in front of goal.

Moore's early goal had left former Wales international Nathan Blake purring on punditry duty and manager Phil Parkinson praising his "brilliant" leading of the line.

So far, so good – and similar to the impact from a key role last term.

But for Moore, the key now will be to stay the distance.

The 34-year-old has revealed he has taken extra precautions in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the fitness issues that affected his first year at the Racecourse.

"The injuries took their toll where I couldn't perform how I wanted to. It took the momentum away," Moore says.

"I want to do the exactly the same as last season and start well, but this time get rid of those injuries and hopefully I can just carry that form the whole way through."

Moore shied away from revealing the exact details of his new regime, although he was pictured being put through his paces in private off-season sessions - and says his young son has ensured he has been kept on his toes.

"I had some rest as well which is needed, but I've made sure I got myself in a great position," he explained.

Parkinson will no doubt welcome that news, especially given Moore again looks like being his go-to man up top.

Before his first prolonged absence from the side last winter, Moore had played more minutes than any other out-and-out striker in the Championship.

And against Cardiff, his ability in the air (no player won more duels) plus a superb finish to start the season suggested he could be a key asset once more, even with Wrexham tipped to spend again before the transfer window closes.

Parkinson has acknowledged a side who dropped 24 points from winning positions need to show a more ruthless edge, though he was quick to point out that last season's top scorer, Josh Windass, is due to return to action soon after injury.

With no fresh faces expected before Saturday's visit of Watford (15:00 BST), Parkinson said: "Like any manager, everybody's looking for that bit extra - but I feel we have a lot in the building to take those moments."

An injury-free Moore might well prove Parkinson right. %!s()

On an episode of Sequoia's podcast released Tuesday, the Canadian computer scientist and Turing Award winner said that the AI industry is headed in the wrong direction because of its reliance on synthetic training data.

"That's just a big mistake," he said when asked about using synthetic data as a way to keep scaling large language models. "Maybe it's the next big lesson."

Synthetic data is information artificially produced by algorithms or AI models rather than collected from original, real-world sources. It has become increasingly attractive as AI companies scour the internet and hunt for new sources of training data. Examples include computer-generated images of cars for self-driving training or fake bank records for AI fraud detection.

On some level, Big Tech agrees with Sutton.

Tech giants are going to increasingly extraordinary lengths to find more of the real thing. OpenAI has publicly sought large-scale, proprietary datasets that aren't readily available online to help train its AI models. Earlier this week, Google agreed to pay $10 million for internal data and software belonging to bankrupt Spirit Airlines, highlighting the growing value of proprietary, real-world information for AI training.

On Tuesday's podcast, Sutton said manufactured data isn't an adequate substitute for real data.

Human behavior is one such example, he said.

"There's no way we can have synthetic data for other people's minds," he said.

His preferred alternative is real experiential data: information an AI agent obtains by interacting with its actual environment, observing what happens, and continuously learning from the consequences.

"You can't get synthetic data on how the drone is going to interact with its environment in the physical world," Sutton said, adding that there are variables such as friction and wear in a robot's motors. "The world is infinitely complex, and any simulation of it is like, microscopic."

That has now become a startup thesis. Last month, Sutton and his former student Khurram Javed launched Oak Lab. The startup is developing agents designed to learn continuously from their own experience rather than relying primarily on large, pre-curated datasets. Oak Lab has not disclosed a funding round or investors.

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Shubhangi Goel

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• Artificial Intelligence
• The AI Data Grab

Key Facts

In a post on Truth Social late on Tuesday, Trump announced he had “paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada” for a three-day period.

Trump said the brief pause was to allow the “finalization of documents” for a deal both countries have reached.

The president’s post didn’t specify any details about the deal but noted that the Keystone XL Pipeline, which runs from Nebraska to Canada’s Alberta province, “may be awoken from the grave.”

In a statement on X, the official handle for the U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, noted the deal will include “comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment,” and other provisions to protect U.S. workers.

What Have Canadian Officials Said About The Deal?

In an official statement, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sounded more cautious about the state of the deal, saying: “Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done.” Echoing Trump, he noted that the U.S. 50% tariffs have been postponed until the end of day on August 21. His statement said the Canadian government in the past few weeks has: “engaged in intensive discussions with the United States to address outstanding trade issues and deliver greater certainty and real benefits for Canadian businesses, workers, farmers and families.” Carney noted that while negotiations with the U.S. continue, his country is also focused on “building a stronger, more independent, and more competitive economy at home.”

What Do We Know About The Tariffs?

Last month, Trump signed an order imposing 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, including wine, dairy, cement, furniture, and ice hockey gear. To implement the tariffs, Trump used Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, an obscure Great Depression-era law that allows the president to impose tariffs up to 50% on countries deemed to be discriminating against U.S. goods. The White House accused Canada of discriminating against various U.S. made products, including cars, alcohol and dairy goods.

Tangent

Shortly after the tariff post, the president shared an AI-generated image of himself pulling an oil pipeline out of the ground labeled “Keystone.” In his earlier post, Trump attacked his predecessor, saying the Keystone XL Pipeline had been “killed by Sleepy Joe Biden” long ago. The image featured a gravestone next to the pipeline that read “Buried by Biden.” In the past year, the president has courted controversy several times for sharing AI-generated images and deepfakes on Truth Social to attack his opponents.

further reading

Carney Says Canada Is Open To Talks After Trump Imposes New 50% Tariffs (Forbes) %!s()

Target is expected to report fiscal second-quarter results Wednesday morning as the retailer offers a window into its turnaround progress under CEO Michael Fiddelke.

The company has tried to prove to investors that it's on the right path toward returning to consistent growth and reattracting its core customer. The earnings come as many consumers continue to spend less, pressured by macroeconomic conditions.

Here's what Wall Street is expecting for the retailer's fiscal second quarter, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $2.33 expected
• Revenue: $26.14 billion expected

Last quarter, Target reported its first positive same-store sales number in five quarters, jumping 5.6%. The company also hiked its full-year revenue guidance, though Fiddelke told reporters at the time that Target was maintaining a "cautious" outlook given ongoing uncertainty in the market.

Executives also said they were focused on making more changes to inventory, product selection and its sales strategy to fuel the company's growth. One of its strongest segments last quarter was its baby and kids category.

Those earnings came on the heels of multiple quarters of sluggish sales, with annual revenue roughly flat for four years.

Fiddelke told reporters in May that the company's "work is just beginning."

Investors remain uncertain about whether Target can deliver on its promise. Analysts at Deutsche Bank Research wrote in a Friday note that they "remain sidelined" until they see more evidence that the company's recent sales growth shows sustainable market share gains.

"We believe the more important debate is whether improving store and merchandising execution supports confidence in growth durability in FY27 and beyond," the analysts wrote.

Target's stock is up more than 55% this year. %!s()