Michael Carrick admits need for Man Utd 'focus' as bold new objective confirmed

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Michael Carrick says he decided to whisk the Manchester United squad away to Ireland to ensure "freshness" during their lengthy delay between matches. United have not been in action since the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on March 20 and are waiting for their next game against Leeds on Monday.

That 24-day gap posed a problem for Carrick and the United coaching staff, who needed to keep the players sharp. United got players back from international duty last week, but were not involved in the FA Cup quarter finals on the weekend.

Carrick has been used to solely focusing on the Premier League, with United not in any European competitions this season and having been knocked out of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup at the earliest possible rounds. But the extra-long break between these games prompted a re-think and the decision to head to Dublin for a four-day training camp.

United took 25 players to Ireland on Monday , including Lisandro Martinez and Patrick Dorgu, who are aiming to come back from injuries, and academy youngsters Fred Heath, Yuel Helafu, Jim Thwaites and Victor Musa. Carrick has now explained the rationale behind the trip.

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"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.

"Having a bit of lunch and a bit of dinner, and a few activities where we can kind of have that connection and spirit again, players and staff. And then come to work, to train, to prepare, to try to improve and be ready for the games coming up."

Carrick is assisted by coaches Steve Holland, Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans, Travis Binnion and Craig Mawson. Assistant coach Holland has a wealth of experience, having worked alongside Gareth Southgate with England previously, and has explained the goal for the remainder of the season.

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“Our last game, Bournemouth to Leeds, is a Premier League record I think, in terms of time between games," he said. "So the gap has been as big as you can have really. I think we felt it was important to get the whole group together again, and really focus on finishing the season well. I think this is the perfect venue for that, really.”

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.

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"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.”

United sit third in the Premier League with seven games remaining. Having taken 23 points from a possible 30 under Carrick's management, they are in a strong position to secure a place in next season's Champions League, especially after it was confirmed on Tuesday that the Premier League had secured a fifth automatic place.

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