So true.
There he is, failing to run a midfield.
Why don't you time your comments better so you don't look ridiculous?
Alas poor Carrick...WTF has happened?
- Thread starter Carl
- Start date
So true.
There he is, failing to run a midfield.
Why don't you time your comments better so you don't look ridiculous?
Pretty sure Pete meant in the past.
That's why I left in the part about timing. It's not a bright comment to make after a game like that.
You've misunderstood his comment though. He wasn't denying that Carrick ran the midfield yesterday or that he's been doing so recently.
He was talking about the majority of his UTD career, where he's tended to play more of an enabler role, and very nicely, but has rarely dominated games.
He was talking about the majority of his UTD career, where he's tended to play more of an enabler role, and very nicely, but has rarely dominated games.
Right, and that's pretty much Pete's type of posts all over this site. Anytime a United player does well, he goes to a place or time when he didn't, etc.
This is just another example. Carrick has a stellar game and there's Pete saying he's not that good.
It's typical. It's tedious.
Not sure that's true. If you look at his comments on Rooney or Scholes or even Smalling, he often rates them higher than some of the United fans.
The ones he tends to single out are Evans and Rafael, as being error-prone. You don't have to agree, but it's not an absurd claim.
Obviously he's not going to say anything nice about RVP, that seems fair enough.
Pete was actually being complimentary toward Carrick.
Done what differently though? Not had Scholes, arguably the best English midfielder of this generation at our disposal?
As Xabi Alonso said about Carrick:
Carrick has gone about the role of sweeping up the loose balls, connecting defense and midfield and the majority of the time giving the ball to Scholes who has better distribution that Carrick. Now that Scholes doesn't seem to be a part of the starting XI, Carrick has begun to show a more attacking impetus like he did at Spurs (where surprise surprise he didn't play with Scholes)
The way I see it is that Fergie didn't use Carrick ineffectively by not playing him in the role that he is performing in now. It's just that the times have changed, Scholes no longer seems to be at his previous level and so Carrick must show the midfield leadership that he did at Spurs.
It's not like only one midfielder's allowed to pass the ball really well though.
Carrick's a terrific passer. He's not as good as Scholes at his peak, no, but he's bloody good. For years he showed that to an extent, but he also deferred to Scholes massively. Countless times I've seen him give it square to Scholes five yards away under no pressure - in a position where Scholes would never ever have given it to him. That gets the ball to our best passer, sure, but it has a cost in terms of the speed and fluidity of our play. It would probably have been better, overall, for him to show some balls and play more of those fantastic passes to the forwards taking the opposing midfield out the game.
It's probably true that you can't have two CMs equally dominant. But he could have been much more dominant than he has been. He's spent the best years of his career... not water-carrying, that's too harsh... but facilitating others rather than playing to his potential.
Carrick's a terrific passer. He's not as good as Scholes at his peak, no, but he's bloody good. For years he showed that to an extent, but he also deferred to Scholes massively. Countless times I've seen him give it square to Scholes five yards away under no pressure - in a position where Scholes would never ever have given it to him. That gets the ball to our best passer, sure, but it has a cost in terms of the speed and fluidity of our play. It would probably have been better, overall, for him to show some balls and play more of those fantastic passes to the forwards taking the opposing midfield out the game.
It's probably true that you can't have two CMs equally dominant. But he could have been much more dominant than he has been. He's spent the best years of his career... not water-carrying, that's too harsh... but facilitating others rather than playing to his potential.
Yeah I deleted my post because I can't be arsed to speak for Pete, it was his point not mine. I agree with what you say.
I realise that Plech and I'm not saying that you can only have one incisive midfielder per XI or that Carrick doesn't have the passing ability to be the focal point of a United squad. But Carrick has been playing a more conserved, measured role in order that Scholes can make runs in the box and try the more ambitious ball.
That's right, but it's also pretty much pete's point.
It's served us well enough, but it's a bit of a shame in terms of Carrick's development. Mind you, he's alright... he probably hasn't even noticed, the gormless twat.
It's served us well enough, but it's a bit of a shame in terms of Carrick's development. Mind you, he's alright... he probably hasn't even noticed, the gormless twat.
I'm very happy with how Carrick has turned out. If you told me back when we signed him this was how he was going to be then I would have bitten your hand off. Played a huge part in our successes over the years. Plus even with Keane in midfield we would have still lost to Barcelona whose 08-11 side is arguably the greatest ever.
£17 million was a steal.
£17 million was a steal.
What's most important is that he's playing so excellently now. After all, we've not suffered from his more passive role in the past, and nor has he - he's got the winners medals and the club has the trophies to prove it. Now he's out from under Scholes' shadow, he can enjoy excelling for another five or so seasons with us.
I absolutely love watching him at the moment. He's starting to resemble, at times, some of the really great elegant midfielders of the past. That delicate little dummy and Cruyff turn on the edge of the box against Norwich (followed, admittedly, by a limp shot) was so like Zidane it gave me deja-vu.
Amongst that usual set of deep-lying playmakers that we like to compare him to (Alonso, Busquets, Arteta etc), is he playing the best at the moment? I reckon so.
I absolutely love watching him at the moment. He's starting to resemble, at times, some of the really great elegant midfielders of the past. That delicate little dummy and Cruyff turn on the edge of the box against Norwich (followed, admittedly, by a limp shot) was so like Zidane it gave me deja-vu.
Amongst that usual set of deep-lying playmakers that we like to compare him to (Alonso, Busquets, Arteta etc), is he playing the best at the moment? I reckon so.
His performance Inter away is still the most memorable one for me 
Thread title.
Cheers Cunto.
I recall being quite disappointed when we signed him in 06 because the club had reportedly failed to sign Marcos Senna, who'd just had an amazing Euros with Spain as one of the key players in that team.
Senna was the better player at the time, but the disappointment soon faded when Carrick and Scholes were carving teams apart that season. We played some great football as well.
Senna was the better player at the time, but the disappointment soon faded when Carrick and Scholes were carving teams apart that season. We played some great football as well.
I agree. A bit of a waste really.
Carrick
The range of passing he displayed against Norwich was immense. He was like a taller, less ginger, equally gormless looking Scholes.
I suspect Fergie always saw Carrick as a kind of stopgap - not to be compared with Keane and Scholes.
I remember an interview after the transfer in which he said we paid a few million too much!
He's changed his tune recently though.
I remember an interview after the transfer in which he said we paid a few million too much!
He's changed his tune recently though.
His disguised vertical passes to Kagawa, inbetween the two lines of the Norwich team, were sublime and somehow reminded me of the passing that a certain Josep Guardiola used to do for Barcelona in the past.
Besides van Persie's goals, his form has been the most important and crucial factor in terms of being on top of the Premier League.
Besides van Persie's goals, his form has been the most important and crucial factor in terms of being on top of the Premier League.
Who's been defacing my thread title? Why I audda... *shakes fist*
EDIT: Should have known it'd be the Canadian.
EDIT: Should have known it'd be the Canadian.
Neverminding your initial title made no grammatical sense in any context with Carrick.
Wonderful ball for Rooney's assist to Kagawa, and has generally been superb for us. The players who dictate matches from central midfield like Carrick, Xavi, Pirlo, Scholes, are easily for me the most wonderful kind of players to observe. They just bring a team together.
Wonderful ball for Rooney's assist to Kagawa, and has generally been superb for us. The players who dictate matches from central midfield like Carrick, Xavi, Pirlo, Scholes, are easily for me the most wonderful kind of players to observe. They just bring a team together.
That ball to Rooney for the second goal on Saturday was ridiculous. Even to think you can pull that off you have to be good, let alone to do it when you're the type of player who very rarely gives the ball away.
Thought his performances had dropped off the last few weeks, but he was fantastic against Norwich. His passing would have stood up to what Scholsey was doing 3-4 years ago, and somehow not only was he always an option for a United player on the ball, but most of Norwich's passes also seemed to be going to him.
Thought his performances had dropped off the last few weeks, but he was fantastic against Norwich. His passing would have stood up to what Scholsey was doing 3-4 years ago, and somehow not only was he always an option for a United player on the ball, but most of Norwich's passes also seemed to be going to him.
Was Carrick ever, at any point, in his United career considered anything less than an outstanding acquisition by Fergie? I can't put my finger on any single post to support the point, but I sense a bit of surprise, pleasant surprise, in the tone of some of the posts here on the caf.
I'm not asking whether Carrick has ever had a bad game. Like all other humans, of course he has.
I'm not asking whether Carrick has ever had a bad game. Like all other humans, of course he has.
There was discontent at first from some people I think because a lot of fans were still pining for a Roy Keane replacement, and took a while to realise that Carrick was never meant to be the same type of player.
Also, the feeling that he was good enough to be doing so much more...although it's hard to be the guy runing the midfield when you're playing next to Paul Scholes in the peak of his career most weeks. Anyone with half a brain cell would just leave Scholes to it and keep things ticking over. It still happens now when he's played next to Scholes. He looks half the player, with the problem being that nowadays unfortunately, so does Scholes.
But yeah, he was good right from the off, and has gradually improved and become more and more important to the team. Just wish he wouldn't start every season like a dead sloth...but then, half of our squad does this.
The single most important factor for a midfielder, imho, is positioning. Carrick is one of the very best in the world there.
I never viewed Carrick as a replacement for Keane. (If anything, wasn't Fletcher supposed to be what came closest to Keane's successor? Or maybe Hargreaves?) Two completely different players, in my judgment. I can see how we'd all want Carrick to be "more" than what he is. I personally think he could have been a more prolific goal scorer, but then again we never really needed that from him. What we've needed is what he's given us, and a lot more.
In any event, he's been consistently outstanding as far as I'm concerned. As soon as we procured him, we began lifting trophies again. Not quite cause and effect, but Carrick has been central to our success since his arrival.
Shut up Eriku.
You weren't around when we signed Hargreaves. Many posters claimed Hargreaves to be a superior player. Most probably because he had better hair is the only explanation I had at the time.
Where's Mozza these days?
It's true that some said that. But I don't think many thought that Carrick was a poor signing, some just thought Hargreaves was a better fit (which he obviously wasn't).
The Norwich game has got everyone carried away again. Let's wait till after the Madrid game, we know in the first leg the speed of the game rendered him anonymous for much of it. Let's see how he gets on in the second leg before we start hailing him to be something he's not.
He was scapegoat numero uno around 2010 and reaction to his new contract was lukewarm, on the Caf at least.
There was a clan of people on here who thought Hargreaves was some kind of midfield god. I'm not sure what this was based on...from memory I think it was because he played against AC Milan once, and because we paid loads of money for him therefor he must be really really good.
He was one of the most average midfield players I've seen in a United shirt, excluding the wraft of midfield players who weren't actually midfield players.
He was s average Villa could have signed him and no one would have noticed.
Yep. He was the default Caf scapegoat for about 6 months, regardless of whether he played well or not. I think that was just after the Blame Berbatov era.
Partly because he would hardly ever have played.
FFS, can you stop hammering Shakespeare with the titles to this thread please?
His injury problems are just a myth though sinch, according to the Hargreaves enforcers.
Remember when he appeared against Wolves looking like some kind of cave man, managed to get injured by being hit on the foot by the football, and then disappeared back into his cave again? That was genuinely the highlight of his last 3 years at the club.
What a signing
Remember when he appeared against Wolves looking like some kind of cave man, managed to get injured by being hit on the foot by the football, and then disappeared back into his cave again? That was genuinely the highlight of his last 3 years at the club.
What a signing