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.
Have to disagree. Carrick has been good in three matches on the trot but he is a very average premiership midfielder. He’s lightweight in the tackle and needs an eternity to compose himself on the ball. We lack energy and drive in mid field when he plays. Sure he can play a couple of nicely weighted nine iron over the top balls on a good day but by the time he does the opposition are usually already on the back foot. We’ve seen in the past in Europe – bayern munch, barcelona, basel – and in the league – everton, city, chelski and even wigan last year – that when he comes up against a half decent midfield, he is simply not up to the job. I for one hope that Shinji and Tom come good because if wwe rely on Carrick to bring us success, it shows how far our expectations have dropped.
Have to disagree. Carrick has been good in three matches on the trot but he is a very average premiership midfielder. He’s lightweight in the tackle and needs an eternity to compose himself on the ball. We lack energy and drive in mid field when he plays. We’ve seen in the past in Europe – bayern munch, barcelona, basel – and in the league – everton, city, chelski and even wigan last year – that when he comes up against a half decent midfield, he is simply not up to the job. I for one hope that Shinji and Tom come good because if wwe rely on Carrick to bring us success, it shows how far our expectations have dropped.
Pirlo? hahahahahahahahahahahahaha guy you’re a joker!!!! Fergie, is aging with lack of choice. 15 years ago, Fergie couldn’t go for a lazybone like Carrick. Yes, its him we have available………… Ask him what happened when we were versing Barcelona in Rome and Wembley respectivel?!!! A top passer shines on such occasions, period.
Based on the Spain-Italy Euro final you must think Pirlo is useless then? Nonsense!
Carrick and Pirlo are two of the best passers in the world, but Carrick is better defensively and Pirlo is better offensively.
To me,carrick is a player dat performs well when we have attacking dominance over d opponent…he tends to play well went der is a constant attacking dominance on our opponent..hez got some excellent touches nd passes wit him,no doubt bwt dat,perhaps,u dnt av to be heavily weighted before u can break up opponents attack..d likes of busquet nd alonso are swift light weighted players who can intercept passes at d middle of the park…central defending is not bwt bin strong,reading d opponent play wit intelligent interception,composure to give complete passes,nd linking up d attacking play are just enough…perhaps, every blocking 4 has lapses…letz try nd judge carrick wit wat he has which has bin functioning nd neglect hez errors..hez not an excellent player neither is he a bad player..i stil rate him 70percent!!!!
Xabi Alonso said the English player who is most under-rated is Carrick and that if he was Spanish he’d be taken seriously.
Also watch the finals against Barca (esp the first) the player they paid most attention to was Carrick not Ronaldo.
Geordie Guardiola everyday for me.
Guys lets not forget that old is gold and, when it comes to experience and exposure M.carrick is world stay i hv no place to hide him.
SAF,you can’t deceive us again,Carrick is not good there no doubt of that.taka him to transfer market’no bbig club will price him.look at combination cleverley and Anderson in the beggining of 2012 season.Carrick is poor.
Were you still drunk from New Years Eve when you wrote this?
You couldn’t have been sober. Surely not?
I’ve been a Man United fan for 25 years and I’ve got to say I have never felt so assured of a United team when I see Carrick in front of the back four. The stats are in his favour. We concede less when he starts vs. when he is on the bench/out of the squad.
People who doubt his ability or call him an average footballer are either blind or in denial.
Undoutably he doesn’t get the credit he deserves because he isn’t like Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard who like to go on 20 yard runs and hit a 30 yard screamer. You cannot compare Anderson and Cleverley to Carrick because they are completely different midfielders, incomparable.
People are missing the point with Carrick, he isn’t supposed to show glimpses of excellence, he isn’t supposed to set the field alight with talent and trickery. He has a job to do given to him by SAF and he does it 99.9% of the time. If people are unhappy with that then I suggest they go learn more about the game and stop wishing every midfielder was like Xavi and Iniesta.
Real Madrid smiling to play MU AND WILL TARGET cARRICK.
They will try and stop Carrick because if they don’t United will dominate possession. Everything United do starts with Carrick.
He is often a scapegoat when the team loses. But he is the most consistent midfielder on the squad that routinely covers the most kilometers in a match, he is a fantastic holding midfielder and shields the back four and provides cover for Scholes/Clev/Ando/Kagawa and Rooney.