To be fair, this is absolute bollocks. I know a lot of Chelsea fans and no one I know thought he was ****. He was one of the best midfielders in the league as a central midfielder at Arsenal and showing it again at Chelsea.
indeed, if you think any of those 4 would make Chelsea's starting XI. Shaw as a squad player for his potential. The others wouldnt get a sniff. Rafael v Ivanovic Not even a contest Shaw v Azpi or Felipe Luis No contest Carrick v Matic Might have been a contest 5 years ago, now....no...just no..... Jones v JT or Cahil Mwhahahahaha
Cahill is awful and Terry is to old now. Matic is better then Carrick but not by much, last season Carrick was injured for a lot of it. Rafael is not ****. Drogba is now though, he is finished even Torres is better.
I'm not Cahill's biggest fan but at this moment is clearly head and shoulders above Jones as proven by the fact he's the guaranteed starter for England at CB and was in the team of the year last season. Terry was one if not the best defender in the league last year, part of the best defence etc. Clearly not at his peak but still a county mile ahead of Jones. Carrick's best days (which were average) are long gone. Rafael, seriously, are you having a giraffe!?!?
You can't use the team of the year argument as that would suggest that Shaw is the best left back in the PL. It's been stated on here time and again that he is in fact **** (and fat) which means Cahill is also **** (but not fat). To be fair anyone who thinks Carrick was average when he was at his peak is utterly clueless.
He was average when compared to the main midfielders at the top clubs. Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas, Ballack all miles ahead of him. Even the likes of Barry were getting picked ahead of him for England. Shaw made the player of the year cos it was a nice story. Picking the 18 year England lad who'd had a great season at an over achieving Southampton side. He was not as good as Azpi though, who also performed brilliantly in the champions league and was in the league's best defence. The team of the year was a bit of a farce. We had one player out of the back 5 in it despite having clearly the best defence. But the team of the year is an indication at least if not a full blown definitive reference point. Jones would not have even been considered cos he couldn't even hold down the CB place for club or country.
Carrick's best days were average. He won on average one premier league title every second year. (oh yeah, I forgot. He played no part in that because, like, Quinton Fortune has won a premier league and that doesn't make him good )
Probably the biggest load of **** I have ever seen on Not606. I too, am not Cahill's biggest fan, but both he and Terry are miles ahead of Jones. If JT was still an England option, Jones wouldn't even get a look in, with him, Cahill and Jagielka ahead of him in the pecking order. Matic is miles ahead of Carrick, he pretty much single handedly kept us in the title running last year, his arrival changed everything for us. Rafael is ****, cannot really elaborate on that. Maybe thats a tad harsh, but at best you could say he is a squad player and wouldn't get into the starting XI of any of the other top 7 teams from last year. Drogba is 36 years old and hasn't even started a league game for us this season and has played about 20 minutes of PL football so far. He isn't the player he was and I wouldn't suggest that for a second, but you are judging him on missing one shot in a CL match He looks rusty and should improve if he gets more game time. Even if he doesnt, he is our third choice striker ffs
I also love how idiots like Shergar claim that JT and Carvalho were only made to look good by Makelele and Cech and because we were ultra defensive, and we were boring. Yet now we are playing more attacking football and our defence is likely to be more exposed, we have a **** defence and is all JT and Cahill's fault Despite last years impressive record.
He certainly fit in to your system well and of course he contributed but you could never say he look games by the scruff or bossed games like the players I mentioned. Some players are less glamorous and are missed when not there and Carrick certainly fell into that category but he will not go down as a premier league great despite his impressive trophy haul which must say something in itself. Average by them standards, not by premier league standards as he was certainly in the next bracket below Lampard, Gerrard, Ballack, Fabragas etc.
The getting picked for England argument is very weak. It would have some substance if the England managers had actually achieved something with the players they picked! While world class Gerrard was winning caps, Carrick was winning trophies as the mainstay of the United midfield for years as other midfielders came and went. I'm sorry but anyone who doesn't recognise Carrick's ability and effectiveness is either riddled with club bias, indoctrinated into the Englander idea of what makes a great midfielder ie the kick and rush or Hollywood pass player, or simply doesn't know what they're watching. As for the team of the year, it was picked by the players who I doubt gave much thought to wanting to give a nice present to a young lad. It's also nonsensical to use the team of the year as a way to big up Cahill but dismiss it in the case of Shaw. Perhaps the other players thought Cahill deserved a nice present for having to put up with Terry all season! The points you made are very limp.
Generous of you to squeeze Gerrard into that bracket of great midfielders. Imagine how successful United could have been if we'd had a decent midfielder over the past ten years!
Except you are talking bollocks. Cesc is useless anywherw bit number ten. Herrera is a far better midfielder. Didnt say he was better, just better in cm and dm. Which is completely accurate.
It's all opinions mate. The England point proves that managers with far more experience and knowledge than any of us, clearly thought Carrick wasn't up to task. Lampard and Gerrard were part of teams that made quarter finals of tournaments and could have gone further baring bad luck and penalties. The fact that the England team has gone about 5 steps backwards coincides with the decline of these 2 greats. Or are you seriously suggesting that Gerrard wouldn't have won stuff in that United team? And if you want to talk about peers picking players for things, how many European teams of the season did Lampard and Gerrard get into compared to Carrick? Lampard was runner up world player of the year as well as being voted England's best player twice. Ballack almost single handed, dragged a very average Germany team to a world cup final. I think it's you who doesn't know what you're watching if you seriously think Carrick is in the class of the players I've mentioned. He wouldn't even be mentioned in a premier league best 11 debate let alone get picked. Take your United bias off. He was a very good player, nothing more. Perhaps Shaw genuinely is the best left back in the league and Coleman is better than Ivanovic, Lallana is better than Ramsay, Sturridge better than Rooney and Aguero. That's not what I see most weeks though.
Not being funny mate but that United team Carrick was successful with had countless more important players in it than him. Ronaldo for one, Rooney in his prime, Fletcher even had a couple of brilliant seasons. All in front of one of the best defences in the P.L ever. Swap Carrick for Joe Allen and you'd have the same result
