Will this man finally get the recognition he deserves?
I have noticed recently that there seems to be a distinct difference of opinion, amongst both United fans and those of other teams, with regards to Michael Carrick’s attributes and contributions to Manchester United Football Club. I have had numerous “discussions” with both my mates and with acquaintances on Twitter regarding this subject. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on in reference to this subject I’m sure most Reds will have had the same discussions!
Now, this article is not intended as a way to make you all of a sudden change your opinion on him. I believe every fan is more than entitled to their opinions on anything football related. After all, the reason that we all love this game so much is because we are all so emotional and opinionated about it. If you have an opinion on a player/manager/team for valid reasons then that is good and to be applauded. However, what I don’t have too much time for is when somebody has an opinion purely because they are a “sheep following the flock”. They hear other people moaning and complaining about a player and they just go along with it. I can only put this down to one of two reasons. Firstly, they don’t particularly know much about football so they just assume these people are correct. Secondly, they disagree in principal but cannot really be bothered trying to explain their difference of opinion to anybody so they just “conform”.
SCAPEGOATS – I’m sure this happens at every club in the world of football, where a team’s supporters have one particular scapegoat who is all of a sudden the sole reason why that particular team is underperforming. Over the years United have had many scapegoats, to name a few I will mention Neil Webb, Brian McClair & Fabian Barthez who have all fallen into that category. There have been MANY MANY others. More recently Berbatov (to a lesser extent) and also Nani have come under the scapegoat heading.
Carrick however, seems to fall almost perfectly in the middle. Half the fans love him & half think he is useless. Now, let me try to explain where I sit on this subject. Up until about 2 seasons ago I didn’t particularly rate him. I don’t know why, so perhaps I was just following the flock at the time. However then I had a “lightbulb moment”. Why on earth was the greatest football manager that ever lived, SAF (of course in case you weren’t sure), continually playing this guy in our central midfield when he wasn’t up to it (in my eyes)? Had Fergie lost the plot, how was he not seeing that we needed a world class central midfielder to replace him? So, at this point my mind started ticking over. It was time to take a closer look at Carrick and his displays. What does he bring to our team that others don’t?
1, Is he a better passer than Scholesy? Absolutely not. But is there any shame in that? If you can find more than 5 players in world football in the last 10 years who are as good as, or better, passers than Scholes then you will be doing extremely well. Probably players like Zidane, Alonso, Iniesta.
2, Is he a better tackler and/or harder worker than Fletcher/Hargreaves etc? Probably not.
3, Is he better at running with the ball & taking players on than Anderson/Clevs etc? A more debatable question than the previous two points, but still the answer is probably not.
You might be wondering what my point here is, well I am getting there, just a bit more slowly than expected! So he isn’t as good at these things than the players above, but collectively he can do them ALL better than the rest of our central midfield contingent. He also brings other qualities to our team, he has a calming influence in the middle of the park, where it is most needed. He so rarely gives the ball away – I’m sure I saw a stat the other week where his percentage of passes completed away at Swansea was 96%. If this was to drop to maybe 80% then our defence would have been under a significantly higher amount of pressure and, considering our fragile defending this season, then we may well have gone on to lose that match. Furthermore, his discipline at being happy to play the deep sitting role certainly gives our other midfielders the freedom to go and express themselves in more advanced areas. Also, be under absolutely NO illusions that this lad can play a killer pass at any given time, there have been so many examples of that over the years that to name any of them would be pointless.
If you are yet to be convinced, just think about this….. Why does Fergie continue to play him in virtually every game? And ALWAYS in the big games? I think he’s started 41 out of the last 42 Premier League games (or some similar stat). He is, in essence, the first name on Fergie’s team sheet. So, if you still disagree with me then you also disagree with the greatest Football Manager of all time!! I have also seen/read many interviews with United players who rate Carrick very highly, mainly one with Rio saying that he couldn’t believe Carrick didn’t get taken to Euro 2012 as he is England’s version of Andrea Pirlo – High praise I’m sure you will agree.
Now, let me finish by saying this. If United had their choice of any players in world football to choose from then Michael Carrick would not make my first choice 11. Also, if I had to pick my all time best United team (from the 26 years I have had a season ticket) then Michael Carrick would not even make my squad. However, based on what we have available to us & his performances in the last 18 months to two years then he should continue to be the first name on our team sheet. Those who still disagree, please sit and watch him (properly) next time you find yourself at a United match and maybe, just maybe you will change your mind.
He started his Manchester United carrier with 3 PL wins in a row and CL win. He is one of the best midfielders we have ever had. Scholes passing is much slower than Carricks – who also use both feet.
I dont understand some people. You hail Hernandez who more or less never do anything useful outside the box and you skin people who can actually play.
This is the worst generation of United-supporters ever!
You missed one of if not the most infuential part of his game. His posistioning is second to non! He is possably the best possitonal midfielderin the world at the moment. Thats a huge part of how he intetcepts passes and completes so many passes, this is also how he keeps the ball so well, by starting off in the right possition in the first place. Not to mention his vission is negligable, if you ever see him recieve the ball without looking round him then you missed it lol, he is always and i mean always looking around himself, simple i know but what a huge difference this makes is completely underated and above all a more rare attribute to find in the growing word of every footballer should be a creativly technique driven player.
I’ll make a public apology as two years ago I was absolutely fed up of Carrick and nearly cried into my coffee when his contract was extended as I thought he was p*** poor. Fast forward two years. For me he’s been our most consistent player over the last 2 years and due to this consistency arguably our best. Carrick I apologise.
I agree with what you have said but i would also like to give my opinion about it… I agree Carrick is a wonderfull players no doubt about that but i think to be a deeper midfield role the most essential criteria to have is tackling and upper body strength… Because he is the last line of defence in the midfield… And that is what Michael Carrick lacks… It is almost the same argument as when we critisize Rooney… He is a wonderfull player but he just doesn’t score enough… As a forward you just have to score… Why he didn’t score enough was because he didn’t have the service he wanted and thus he dropped deeper but then he didn’t have someone to feed to… So when Van Persie was signed we can see Rooney played at his best… Going back to Carrick case, i think he needs a dynamic and robust partner who just sit behind Carrick to protect him if he was being overrun, a Sergio Busquets type player… Or two dynamic and defensively disciplined players playing above him such as Cleverly with more upper body strengh and a more consistent and defensively disciplined Anderson… So in conclusion if we want to see the best out of Carrick in attacking sense with his long range passing we need a Busquets type player but if we want to see the best out of Carrick in defensive sense with his interceptions and reading of the game we need a more powerfull Cleverly and a fit and a more consistent Anderson… Just like the beginning of 2012 season before Cleverly was injured…
I agree with what you have said but i would also like to give my opinion about it… I agree Carrick is a wonderfull players no doubt about that but i think to be a deeper midfield role the most essential criteria to have is tackling and upper body strength… Because he is the last line of defence in the midfield… And that is what Michael Carrick lacks… It is almost the same argument as when we critisize Rooney… He is a wonderfull player but he just doesn’t score enough… As a forward you just have to score… Why he didn’t score enough was because he didn’t have the service he wanted and thus he dropped deeper but then he didn’t have someone to feed to… So when Van Persie was signed we can see Rooney played at his best… Going back to Carrick case, i think he needs a dynamic and robust partner who just sit behind Carrick to protect him if he was being overrun, a Sergio Busquets type player… Or two dynamic and defensively disciplined players playing above him such as Cleverly with more upper body strengh and a more consistent and defensively disciplined Anderson… So in conclusion if we want to see the best out of Carrick in attacking sense with his long range passing we need a Busquets type player but if we want to see the best out of Carrick in defensive sense with his interceptions and reading of the game we need a more powerfull Cleverly and a fit and a more consistent Anderson… Just like the beginning of 2012 season before Cleverly was injured..
Honest analysis but nothing new in terms of arguments really.I think the one sentence before last sums it all. He deserves to play because United do not have any better. One of the reasons United have leaked so many goals is the absence of a truly defensive midfielder who can put the spanner in the opposing attacking moves, regain possession and relaunch United’s play.Carrick could then play slightly upfield where his calming influence and passing could be better exploited. Carrick always performs better when he has somebody by his side to do all the dirty work. Finally, I think we shall have a true picture of Carrick’s ability and capacity in the coming two encounters against Real.
Carrick shows occasional glimpses of excellence, but still far too many instances of mediocrity. Yes Ferguson does seem to rate him despite the fact that, as you allude, he is a Jack of all Trades without excelling in one particular area. I would say that Carrick’s best quality is the final killer ball but this happens far too infrequently for me, and he still has a habit of panicking under pressure and losing possession if he lets someone get close enough, as displayed recently with the first goal for Newcastle. Yes he did play better after that but I’d prefer not to have to weigh up whether our central midfielder’s positive contribution was more important than their mistakes over 90 minutes. Your “calming influence” certainly isn’t the case when under pressure, and for me relates more to the sideways passes which make us often look slower on the counter attack. Possession over penetration.
So you and other fans can rate him as much as you like, and you can consider people who disagree with you as “sheep”, but it’s no coincidence that our central midfield is without doubt the weakest area of the team, and we have looked far more dynamic and dangerous this season when Anderson and Cleverley have been in the centre. For me the negatives about Carrick being a regular in the first 11 outweigh the positives, and if the only argument to counter that is that I mustn’t understand football, then it isn’t the most compelling evidence against someone who has been watching football, and been a season ticket holder at United, since the late 70s. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and for the last 2 or 3 seasons in particular we have looked a shadow of our former selves in the centre of the park.
Despite that, I don’t dislike him and am actually glad he is in the squad despite not being outstanding in any particular area, but that’s because I see him as a decent squad player. Still if there was one area I’d like to see us spend the bulk (or even all) of the budget in the next transfer window (probably summer rather than the current window), I and many other United supporters would like it to be in central midfield.
Thank you. You are spot on. I am a “sheep” or “carrick hater” if you will but when push comes to shove he just dissapears.
Michael Carrick has nothing to offer. Can you compare him with his likes in Barca, Real. City, Chelsea or any top team in Europe? What level of cover does he provide for the defense? How many goals and assists has he added to the team? Why has United conceded more goals than any top flight team in Europe this season if he is so good? The earlier United recognizes his limitations and look for an alternative the better for the team. I don’t want to be taunted by fans of other clubs at the end of the season.
Carrick is dump
I agree, Carrick don’t get the credit he deserves.
I saw a report from Spain a few months back about Carrick and they rate him highly, The report said that If Carrick was as important for England as he is for utd then England would achieve more, and he is one of the top passers in England etc…
i think if Sir Alex and professionals worldwide rate him then maybe the fans should too!