Manchester United: Michael Carrick plays down Roy Keane jibe and says he won’t be influenced by TV pundits

Michael Carrick brushed off criticism of his wife and coaching staff from Roy Keane and says the views of television pundits will have no influence on what he is trying to achieve at Manchester United.

Carrick, who will take charge of United for the first time in his second spell as interim boss tomorrow when they face Manchester City, has been targeted by Keane this week for his choice of backroom staff, in particular Jonny Evans.

Keane told the Stick To football podcast: “Jonny Evans leaves Man United four or five weeks ago as a loans manager and then [Darren] Fletcher gives him a job, strangely enough, has two games.

“Fletch goes and Carrick gives him a job. Great, isn’t it? What has Jonny Evans done to be a coach of Man United’s first team? He left the job four weeks ago, loans manager and ironically comes back working with the first team. That’s a big step up, isn’t it?”

Keane also took aim at Carrick’s wife Lisa Roughead, seemingly reigniting a spat from 2014 when she labelled the former United captain a “****” on social media.

This week, the Irishman responded, saying: “His wife can always come in [if Carrick doesn’t do well], cause she’s got a bit of a big mouth sometimes. She’s probably doing the team talk.”

Criticism is part of the job at a club like United and Carrick looked unperturbed when asked about the remarks today.

“It didn’t bother me,” he said with a smile, before insisting he is not concerned by outside noise.

He added: “They’re not putting more pressure on me. I don’t feel that. There are plenty of opinions around, some positive, some not too much. It’s totally irrelevant in terms of what I focus on. 

“I know what we want to improve on, how we want to work with the players. There’s a lot that can be said, it’s the way of the world. I’m not gonna pay too much attention to that.”

Europe the target for Manchester United – Carrick

United go into the derby in seventh place but just three points behind fourth-placed Liverpool.

And Carrick hinted finishing in a European qualifying spot this season would represent success across his four months in charge.

“We want to be near the top. But we have to take some small steps toward that and European football would a step toward that,” he said.

“Helping individuals is a big part of what I enjoy. I think if you improve the individuals, then you create a better team. And results. There is an element of performance, an element of improvement and doing what it takes to win in certain ways. We want to keep pushing and finish as high as we can.”