Stepping out of Scholes' shadow.
Alas poor Carrick...WTF has happened?
- Thread starter Carl
- Start date
He's undoubtedly a very good player for us, but he's not our very best player.
There's are times when he's admittedly been very good and more than just solid, but it's not as if he's been perfect for his whole time here. People already seem to be forgetting that he had an average start to this season, and has had other spells of poor form as well. Very good midfielder but to start throwing out the world class label is a major kneejerk reaction in my opinion.
Do you still think Xabi Alonso is "miles" better?
Really step his game up this season imo just looks like a great player now where as before he would hide a little especially if things were going badly. Think its key he stays fit until the end of the season.
Which would go to show how poor our midfield is in comparison with some of our previous ones. It wouldn't highlight him as a world class player.
Don't think he hid as such, he just used to stay in the shadow of Scholes far too much.Now he's the senior midfielder
Alonso's comfortably the better central midfielder. Admittedly he hasn't always looked impressive this season, but the whole Real Madrid team has hardly been on fire. Alonso's better by quite a distance and pretty much any unbiased fan would agree with that.
He's got great talent. But he's been an underachiever for us. He seems to be content to show less than he's capable of.
He is excellent, MOTM by far IMO.
I'm pretty sure you haven't seen Alonso play this season.
Also weren't you the one who labelled Khedira as a class midfielder?
I always thought that Alonso had the same defensive deficiencies as Carrick however Xabi was not afraid to go in and make a crunching tackle if need be. Which Carrick seems to shy away from 90% of the time.
I'd love to see him chop a player and take a yellow card if it results in that player not watlzing past him and putting in a ball to score or scoring himself (think Yaya in the FA cup).
Even in this game there were a few poor moments for him in defence. He's falling victim to the same Evra problem of ambling into shot as a goal is being scored. For the Obertan goal he was jogging back with absolutely no urgency. That is becoming more and more frequent as well, despite the first goal losing the ball i'd have liked to see him at least tear after it and TRY and win it back.
That second half performance was unbelievable. How come this guy needs so long to get going though?
But nevertheless, I love him our Christmas Carrick
But nevertheless, I love him our Christmas Carrick
I said in my previous post that Alonso hasn't had the best of seasons. But that hardly makes him a poor player, does it? After all, Carrick had an average start to the season for us and it took him a while to get going.
I can't remember specifically calling Khedira a class player. He is fairly good though. Not as good as Alonso but still a decent football nevertheless.
A one man band in midfield today. It is criminal to give him Giggs and Scholes as midfield support.
Can someone please make a video of his contribution this and last game ?
I'm pretty sure it's one of the best deep lying play making I've seen for a while. So many forward defence splitting passes that should have been goal.
I'm pretty sure it's one of the best deep lying play making I've seen for a while. So many forward defence splitting passes that should have been goal.
He's always been good, but he's really stepped up lately.
If we look past our strikers, then I'd say he's been our most influencial player this season. Only Rafael can compare.
If we look past our strikers, then I'd say he's been our most influencial player this season. Only Rafael can compare.
Carrick has pissed on numerous midfields since 2006. And these have included Chelsea, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lyon, Roma etc.
This is nothing new. Fergie is having a mit of a mare this season IMO but he always picks Carrick for big games and it is obvious why.
For Carrick to do what he does with one partner next to him is pretty amazing.
All the top class midfielders out there who are praised to no end on here hardly ever play with one only partner close to them.
Carrick could even be better with a system with 3 central midfielders instead of playing with 2 wingers and 2 strikers.
This is nothing new. Fergie is having a mit of a mare this season IMO but he always picks Carrick for big games and it is obvious why.
For Carrick to do what he does with one partner next to him is pretty amazing.
All the top class midfielders out there who are praised to no end on here hardly ever play with one only partner close to them.
Carrick could even be better with a system with 3 central midfielders instead of playing with 2 wingers and 2 strikers.
He was magnificent today, drove us from midfield which he doesn't do often enough IMO. More of the same Micheal!!
Brilliant all round play and another 2 assists. Fantastic run of form.
First name on the teamsheet.
He looks a different player next to Cleverley. More freedom and less restriction. Also the faster movement seems to suit him.
The set up for the winner was just Michael Carrick at his best.
The set up for the winner was just Michael Carrick at his best.
Carrick is brilliant. Nothing new here...
Not sure where we'd be without him.
That's the problem, we're ridiculously reliant on him. He's going to need a rest at some stage.
Absolutely immense.
Showed some balls in the 2nd half
I hate comments like this, anyone would think he hasn't had a fantastic six years at the club. Ok maybe Scholes has been better in his career but he is one of the greatest players the club as ever had. I wouldn't ever think of carrick ever been in the shadow of any player as he has been one of our more important players in one of our most successful ever periods.
Class play again today. Brilliant cross to set up Chicharito for the winner. Couldn't have hit a more perfect pass. We really need him at his best if we are to sustain our lead and even stand a chance of beating madrid.
Absolutely majestic, king-like performance. Made my life worth living this afternoon
It's quite funny when you think of the dross that went to the Euros and started ahead of him.
In full flow now 
Was never in doubt!
Was never in doubt! Credit where it's due. I have knocked him in the past but he is playing well.
It's true though. While he's been excellent for United, he's always lacked authority and drive. When Scholes isn't playing he shows much more of both.
Another solid game from Carrick. Pulled the strings well from midfield and controlled the games for long periods. Even in the first half prior to the second goal going in we were controlling the game well and this was down the Carrick and scholes. They just lacked the speed to carve out chances up front. It wasn't until the shambles of the second goal that we lost control of the game for the rest of that half.
SAF words obviously had some effect at half time, because something changed. Much more urgency and closing down of players. Though it was no surprise that scholes got lost with the quicker pace. But Carrick combined well again with Cleverley to up the tempo and keep pushing all the way to the end for the goal.
SAF words obviously had some effect at half time, because something changed. Much more urgency and closing down of players. Though it was no surprise that scholes got lost with the quicker pace. But Carrick combined well again with Cleverley to up the tempo and keep pushing all the way to the end for the goal.
Looks a completely different player when he plays with Cleverley as opposed to Scholes.
He has the licence to move forward and link up with the wingers/strikers more, instead of just recycling possession which he seems to do when he plays with Scholes.
Also has been playing more of those passes to the feet of strikers' this season, which was evident in Hernandez's winner.
He has the licence to move forward and link up with the wingers/strikers more, instead of just recycling possession which he seems to do when he plays with Scholes.
Also has been playing more of those passes to the feet of strikers' this season, which was evident in Hernandez's winner.
Scholes must still be absolutely incredible in training or something, causing Carrick to be in a state of awe whilst being on the same pitch as him. I dunno, but the difference in mentality and approach is pretty considerable when he's the most experienced one in our midfield. His passing at the moment is a bit more like how it was in 07/08, in my opinion. Not that it was ever bad or anything close to being poor, but my memory tells me he was more consistent in how adventurous he was. I remember thinking back then he'd score a shite load of goals if he just passed it into the net.
I think it is more a case of when he plays with scholes he needs to be more positional strict and hold the center a lot more rigidly as Scholes doesn't have the legs to be pushing forward quickly and moving about as well as cleverley does. As a result the strikers are much more closely marked and it forces the play wider as we have no drive through the center to break the opposition lines in front of him and get the defenders out of shape in the center. So he just passes the ball either to our wingers or to scholes more times than not in that situation.
Put a mobile partner next to him and the other team has to actually shift about to counter the movement and those adventurous forward balls suddenly become more of an option.
Put a mobile partner next to him and the other team has to actually shift about to counter the movement and those adventurous forward balls suddenly become more of an option.
His pass to set up RVP was even more beautiful than the final assist for the winner.
Was it him that had the quick thinking to poke the ball across to RVP for the final shot. Did mention at the time that whoever that was deserved a lot of the credit for the goal.