http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/297019/Paul-Scholes-Michael-Carrick-is-Rolls-Royce-of-our-team I for one have always said this , what do you haters have to say now?!?
I have always been a huge Carrick fan and have constantly stuck up for him when people put him down especially as people have said he's never been that good for us; which for me is nonsense as he was immense in his first two or 3 seasons (think it was 2) then dropped off a lot but has been showing his best a lot lately. My only problem with him is that he could have been so much more than he has been; he could have been our frank lampard; his passing is second to none he can shoot with both feet and he has shown at times when he starts running he's got a bit of pace and is hard to stop. I will always defend his haters but i genuinely believe he had the chance to really make a huge name for himself here and go down as a legend at united
Well Scholesy's hardly going to turn around and say he's **** now, is he? Carrick is a vital part of the team, but needs a more dynamic player in front of him to really shine, like Scholes back when Carrick first joined us. It's a shame Ando and Carrick don't seem to have clicked all that well, but I reckon Carrick and Cleverley could work pretty well if Cleverley can stay fit for long enough.
That's been our best central midfield partnership in the last 18 months IMO. Was very, very good the last few months of last season.
Carrick is one of those players that people who don't know much about football or don't care to watch what he does, really can't appreciate him. In regards to our best partnership, as long as Carrick is playing with someone who brings a lot energy we seem to do well. I like the Jones - Carrick partnership as it allows Carrick to venture forward a bit more.
Hmmmm. That line is usually a preface to being unable to actually describe what Carrick does and why it is fundamental or integral to the team. Watch the 2nd half of the Community Shield against Man City and tell me why the team missed Carrick's influence. Wasn't it Fergie who said of Carrick, along the lines of; "It usually takes him until December to get going"?
I don't remember Fergie saying that, but I'm not saying he didn't. Carrick is the focal point in our team. Nearly every ball out of the defense ends up at Carricks feet. Every time we're passing the ball around the opposition's 18 and we need to reset the attack to find an opening, Carrick is the first person to open himself up to receive a pass and keep the ball moving. If I'm not mistake he made the interceptions in the Premier League. When Cleverly and Anderson were playing our attacks were extremely fluid we were extremely susceptible to attacks. Before Carrick came back from injury every team we played looked like scoring, once Carrick came back our back four had more protection and looked a lot more solid than they did in previous weeks.
Does a lot of donkey work which goes unnoticed. Broke up so much play against us that I thought he was your key man.
A lot of people miss that. It is quite easier to see when you're not watching on tv. I live in Los Angeles and we had a player like that in Juninho. He broke up so many attacks with either tackles interceptions or just slowing the opposition down. A lot of it is missed by cameras as they just follow the ball. He went back to Brazil as he was on loan, and I'd gladly let Beckham go if it means we keep Juninho. I wouldn't mind Fergie putting in a cheap bid for him, he'd be cheap, he's young and would be a good squad player. He has a vicious shot and scored a couple of game winners.
It sounds like you are describing the modern day role that Claude Makele defined - break up attacks and keep the ball moving with short passes. Carrick is mildly effective at it this role, in my opinion. He had a bright first season and in the second was rotated with Hargreaves, who I felt offered alot more. Thereafter, he drifted into indifference. He carried on floating around the back-four, picking up loose balls and passing sideways and backwards the majority of the time. The only time I can remember him performing at a very high level and dominating good opposition, was his showing against Inter Milan at the San Siro, during a CL knock-out match. If only he could get close to that level of performance more often than once every three seasons. I don't remember us needing a player like him in years gone by. Some fans will say the game has changed and that is fair enough - but it brings me back to the second half of the Community Shield against City. Tell me why we missed Carrick breaking-up plays and passing sideways, while we were busy playing City off the park.
We don't need him when we're playing other teams off the park, but then it's rare for a team to regularly play all their opponents off the park, particularly in Europe. When games are more even that is where Carrick will shine. It's a lot like Lucas for Liverpool - when Liverpool were in the top four and challenging us back in 08 and 09 he was ****. But as Liverpool have gotten worse so he has gotten better as there's more work for him to do so he has a clearly defined role. And I do think a player like him would have come in useful in years gone by. Particularly in some of the CL away games when we were getting hammered by Barca, Real, Bayern and Milan back in the 90s and early 00s we needed someone like Carrick to stem the flow in midfield and give us breathing space. Much like he did against Barca in 08 when they dominated both legs but couldn't find a way through. I think we've built a lot of our recent European success on Carrick, much like Liverpool built theirs on Souness back in the 1980s.
As with Veron before him, there is definitely a case that he is more useful in European games. Even so, he doesn't offer the range of passing that Scholes did, the energy or ball carrying ability of Andérson, the energy, aggression or forward approach play of Fletcher, nor the energy, bite and determination of an injury-free Hargreaves. It seems that Cleverly has shown more dynamic and value to the team and even Jones has offered more bite when he has been deployed in midfield this season. Most weeks, Carrick sits infront of one of the best ball distributing centre backs in the world (albeit one who is now injured - alot). It seemed to me that in the '09 and '11 CL finals, we badly missed a natural DM and not Carrick. I don't think he is a bad player and I recognise his contribution, but it feels like until now, the guy has been out of form/indifferent for the best part of 2 seasons. I just think we should expect more. At least to his credit, he avoids the injuries that befall his team mates.
