Michael Carrick has reportedly stated he made the decision to send the Manchester United team to Ireland in order to guarantee “freshness” during their extended break between games.
United’s next match is against Leeds on Monday. The Red Devils haven’t played since their 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on March 20.
Carrick and the United coaching staff had to keep the players focused throughout that 24-day lapse. United did not play in the FA Cup quarterfinals over the weekend, but they did receive players back from international duty last week.
Carrick has been accustomed to concentrating just on the Premier League due to United’s lack of participation in any European competitions this season and their early elimination from both the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.
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However, the extended interval between these games led to a reconsideration and the choice to travel to Dublin for a four-day training camp.
Carrick Provides Explanation For The Trip’s Purpose
“There are different reasons,” he told the club website. “I think we’ve ended up doing quite a bit of training, because of the games, obviously the way they’ve been.
“And it’s [Carrington] a fantastic place to be, don’t get me wrong, but I think there’s a little bit of freshness, little bit of focus again, of getting everyone back together and spending some time here.
He added: “I think the language we should be using as this club is to finish as close as we possibly can to the top.
“I don’t know how possible that is, but that has to be the challenge always: to get as close as we possibly can to the top.
“We’ve been speaking more to the players really about winning our matches, rather than thinking too much about what’s happening below.
“But yeah, clearly given the context, to finish in the Champions League places would be a good situation for us, but I think always we should be looking for more than that.”
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