Michael Carrick has held his first press conference as Man Utd head coach and he responded to some criticism of his wife from Roy Keane.
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Michael Carrick's wife was the subject of some personal criticism from Roy Keane(Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
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Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick said he wasn't bothered by Roy Keane's criticism of his wife and insisted he can shrug off the opinions of former teammates at Old Trafford. Keane used his role on The Overlap podcast to take a potshot at Carrick's wife, saying she had a "big mouth" in comments that seemed to recall Lisa's response to some criticism from Keane to her husband back in the 2013/14 season.
Carrick gave the TV interview after United lost 2-0 to Olympiakos in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie and in his role as a pundit, Keane turned his ire on the midfielder who inherited his No.16 shirt at United. “That interview was just like the performance: flat. He should say a bit more, have a bit more urgency, even in the interview," said Keane.
Lisa took to social media to blast: "Roy Keane what a **** will say anything to provoke a reaction." That post was later deleted, but Keane clearly remembers it, judging by his dig this week. He added that Carrick's wife is "probably doing the team talk".
Carrick held his first press conference since being appointed as head coach until the end of the season and was asked about the personal nature of those comments, but insisted it wasn't an issue for him.
"It didn’t bother me," he said, before insisting the army of former United players now talking about the club in the media weren't making his job harder.
"They’re not putting more pressure on me," he said. "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. For me, the players and staff, it’s a focus on how we’re going to succeed."