Date: 15th September 2011 at 12:26pm
Written by:
Michael Carrick

Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me

United’s somewhat laboured performance in Lisbon last night was met with the usual chorus of disapproval from many Reds on the interweb.

When your goalkeeper is a strong contender for man of the match then you know something’s not gone too well.

One player who seemed -as usual- to bore the brunt of most of the criticism was Michael Carrick.

The vast majority of Reds seemed to blame Carrick for United’s failure to really trouble Benfica and many were actually using it as proof he’s no longer needed at Old Trafford.

Some of the comments regarding Carrick went from annoyed: ‘typically below par’ to downright enraged: ‘when will Fergie see he’s useless!!’

My own feeling is that Carrick was average in a very average midfield, he didn’t do much wrong as far as I was concerned, although he didn’t make enough of a positive contribution, to call it a ‘good performance.’

Fletcher and Park were equally as uninspired but it seems most fans -rightly- understood the fsct they’d both returned after a long spell out of the team so were naturally rusty.

Carrick has always divided opinion among many United fans but last night was one of the times when even some of his supporters seemed to turn on him.

The form of Anderson, Tom Cleverley and the possibility of Phil Jones playing in midfield menas that many Reds now see Carrick as being surplus to requirements.

I’m not convinced that getting rid of him is such a good idea, after all was this not the same player who was lauded over following his CL performances against Chelsea last year?

It’s a squad game and United will need Carrick during the season, he may not be the most exciting player to watch but he does do a job and I for one think Sir Alex should and will use him when needed.

Have I gone in off the deep end or is it time to give up on the former Spurs man? Feel free to comment abuse or suggest below:

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35 responses to “Michael Carrick, ‘Terrible, Inept, Not Good Enough’”

  1. doo says:

    HOW ON EARTH YOU RATE cARRICK 6? HE IS THE ONE FOR THE MANCHESTER FAILURE V BENIFICA.HE DESRVE BELOW ZERO -15.ALWAYS I SEE CARRICK IN THE GAME I AM SHURE MANCHESTER IS DEFEATED B/C THE PALYING WITH 9 PLAYRS(-CARRICK).IN THE FUTURE WILL LEAVE MANCHESTER IF AGAIN I SEE CARRICK ON PICH.

  2. The typical calm & level headed viewpoint from the writer of the article delivered like a calm dad to his excitable children.. Well sorry mate but you’re wrong, Carrick is quite simply shit. Yes it is a squad game but I’d rather see Pogba in than him. Carrick is a dope. He gives the ball away cheaply, is passed by too easily, he’s slow & clumsy – end of. Why Alex sticks with him baffles me but then he always has one he does that with. Against better opposition he is costly. All these points also apply to Evans who was yet again shown up as a poor centre back. All is great apart from the 2 donkeys mentioned & I think Alex knows we’ve enough to get through our group & had a big eye on The rent boys at weekend. I don’t like bad mouthing our players but I fail to see how these 2 can still be defended, they’re not good enough for United & we have no room for mediocrity at our great club..

  3. CROoney says:

    every season same shit ! every season there is a smartass who tries to show us how carrick’s pure class – carrick is average and he’s not a game changer, he’s not a winner and it is perfectly understandable with fans’ frustrations by his inability to make the difference…because at united you expect every player to be able to make the difference…will you guys just stop defending him ? you know, you can be a united fan/bloger by criticising as well…it doesn’t make you less of a fan – on the contrary it makes you even better because you’re seeing the problems at pointing them out and in that way you kinda want to improve the club

  4. uki emmy says:

    pls carrick should go, i dont ever even wanna see him at united shirt anymore,fletcher is becoming too lazy and is so dull, we need to buy a good miedfieder so that we can be the champion we claim to be

  5. JamesRaj says:

    I was disappointed that Michael Carrick was not sold or even had his contract cancelled during the summer and terribly disappointed to see him in the centre of midfield in the starting 11.

    To all those who su[pport Michael Carrick please watch the game again.

    If I am not wrong, he is the only Midfielder in the whoel bloodly world, who actually retreast and moves away when an opposing player in running thru the midefield. Michael Carrick is blessed with an array of passing skills but at Manchester its limited to back passes, side passes and 75% of the time passes the ball back to the player from whom he has recieved the ball.

    He makaes no forward runs nor does he initates attacks. He has lost the ball in key areas of the midfield which could have resulted in the game being lost to Benefica.

    On the contrary, chris smalling, phil jones and Raphael , made more telling passes, initatiated more attacks and defended well..

    The work ethic and inaptitute of Michale Carrik was so bad the event the commentator was shcoked at Carrick’s performance

    SO to anyone here who is in awe of Carricks great performance , pls go watch a game in the park and you will see better midfielders.

  6. Red Typhoon says:

    Carrick played badly against benfica..lets admit it..we are all man Utd supporters and we all want what’s best for the club…from my personal and unbiased observation…carrick was really bad..and me, for one, would never slag off a united player unless he performs detrimentally and causes us to lose or nearly lose a goal…carrick did that on 2 or 3 occasions during the benfica game. anyone of you who thinks he did not play badly..please go watch a replay of the game..and focus on carrick and come back and tell me he did not play badly…he would not go forward when there was space for him to break forward,,all he would do is pass the ball backwards or sideways like a person who lacks confidence…he tends to sit back and watch the opposition when he actually has a chance to press…he is a very timid midfielder who has lost his panache..he would be a good squad player..but not our main midfield player…he has lost it…i was so annoyed with him during the game..mistakes that he was making…during tight situations around our penalty box he was trying to do flicks and one touch fancy passing which backfired and nearly cost us…..real stupidity…i wish he would keep it simple and drive forward….exactly what ando and cleverley does…with abundant creativity

  7. Elbonf says:

    Carrick is not a bad player technically, he is just too slow for this new dynamic united team. His tendency to play the square ball and reluctance to take risks make him unsuitable for the style of play we have seen from united so far this season. Having said that, wednesdays performance was typical of what we saw last season when playing away in Europe (Schalke apart)

  8. bruce says:

    from my unbaised mind, michael carrick played poorly on the 14/o0/2o111. he is not a confident playmaker. 68% of all his passes is backward,are we going forward or backward? of al his games dat he has been fixture as a utited player i dont enjoy his football…….athink the reds need a replacement

  9. seun olufoye says:

    its funny how all the carrick apologists can only point to last seasons chelsea game as the only game in memory that carrick played well in bar 2006’s roma game. Its such a shame that united continue to parade this joke/clown of a player. He lacks in tackling, goals, responsibilily, his passing is a myth propagated by idiots if u regard 2 yard passes as ability. Man utd deserve better. Some clown m twitter @ManUtd24 called me an idiot then blocked me for daring to say carrick was mediocre and shite. Such a tool!

  10. MIkep says:

    Watching the Otelul game. Made me google “Carrick not good enough”. Mediocre is doing him a justice. Carrick out, Sneijder in. If we can spend £7.2m on Bebe, then we can afford £25m for Sneijder.