FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Carabao Cup - Semi-Final - Second Leg - Chelsea v Middlesbrough - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - January 23, 2024 Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick after the match Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs /File Photo
MANCHESTER, England, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Michael Carrick said he is blanking out the background noise as he prepares for his second stint as Manchester United's interim manager with a derby against Manchester City.
The former midfielder won five Premier League titles at Old Trafford as well as the Champions League, but returns with the club in a rut and struggling to revive the golden days.
Carrick has been handed control for the rest of the season and his return has divided opinion, but all he is concerned about is salvaging something from the campaign.
Former United teammate Gary Neville said Carrick should not be considered as a long-term option while Roy Keane said United should hire "the best of the best".
"They're (former players) not putting more pressure on me. I don't feel that. There are plenty of opinions around, some positive, some not too much," Carrick told reporters on Friday.
"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.
"For me, the players and staff it's a focus on how we're going to succeed. That's our job."
Carrick stepped up from assistant manager to spend 12 days as caretaker manager of United at the end of 2021 after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and was undefeated in his three games, including a 3-2 victory over Arsenal.
He will have longer to get his ideas across this time but will need to hit the ground running with his first two games against City and Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Last weekend's defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup means United now only have the league to focus on and the target will be getting back into Europe.
They are seventh in the standings after one win in their last six league games, but only three points off fourth-placed Liverpool.
"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," Carrick said.
"I'm eager to succeed; it's a big and important job. 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."
Carrick's arrival has been welcomed by defender Harry Maguire who described him as a 'magnificent coach' when he was assistant to Solskjaer.
"He has got great ideas, speaks really well and is, tactically, really, really good," Maguire told United's website.
"We've had a couple of sessions and I think he's trying to bring new energy and new ideas, without drilling us too much tactically, at this moment.
"He wants to bring the energy back into the building and I think that's so important."
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Christian Radnedge)
