Alas poor Carrick...WTF has happened?

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Fair play, he's more ripped than I'd have thought. Looks well fit. Quinton Fortune's let himself go though.
 
That bloke in the background gets me every time. A mixture of 'mmmm mmmm' and '.. nah that's fecked up man..' :lol:
 
RedDevilCanuck said:
No Rafael?
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I think it's because the members were asked to vote for only the best player. That is why Carrick and RVP have almost all the votes. It was always gonna be a battle between those two. Had the users been asked to make a top 5 list or something, then Rafael would definitely be there.
 
He's made a significant step up from the player who was good, and badly underrated by most, to become the best CM in the league and one of the best in Europe. His form has been such that he's mostly shaken off his unfairly poor reputation with non-United fans, which has at times seemed like football's most persistent myth.

That said, it's worth noting that even this season he had his usual month or two of unimpressive form, the 'slow start' which Fergie acknowledged a number of times. The step up in quality didn't happen at the start of this season, really - we were well into autumn before it started to show itself.

So, has Carrick changed to the extent that we won't see that slow start this season? Or is he always going to be a player who takes a few months to get going, regardless of how well he plays for the rest of the year?

I'd certainly like to think the former. The slow start wasn't ever a fitness issue, but rather seemed to be to do with taking a while to get confidence in his own form. And confidence seems to be the big difference between the old Carrick and the new. Before, he seemed to lack it sometimes, preferring to keep his play simple and unadventurous, and to delegate to Scholes whenever possible (never a bad call, admittedly). Now he positively oozes the stuff, seems to believe he can keep the ball under any kind of pressure, can put it anywhere he wants on the pitch.

I ask because I think Carrick starting well will be key to our midfield success or lack thereof this coming season. Kagawa is coming in to the form that should see him make the #10 spot his own. Hopefully we'll be seeing someone like Thiago Alcantara come in to partner Carrick behind Shinji. With Carrick an assured anchor for the midfield, players like that will flourish. But if a new player and a nearly-new player find themselves relying on a nervous, out-of-form Carrick, then they might struggle to get their own form going. And whilst I can't predict what Moyes would do, that's when Fergie used to get nervous and start mixing and matching in midfield. Before you know it, it can be Christmas and we've yet to find out a settled first-choice midfield.
 
And to go with that, a nice Carrick season compilation video, courtesy of RussellWilson in the Newbs:



I'm working with a truly third-world internet connection at the moment so I can't really watch it, but I'm sure it's a good'un.
 
Love that video. It really captures Carrick's 12/13 season.
 
There's never really been any problem with Carrick aside from those who for years couldn't get over the notion a successful midfield player could be one that wasn't a 'bite-yer-legs' hardman.
 
I do think he has stepped it up a notch in recent seasons though. His passing is more complete, and his ball retention is remarkably better.

Before I feel he lacked either the strength/bottle to shield the ball properly, he perhaps did not want to take the foul to keep the ball.

He does that really well recently though, a top class CM knows they cannot always find the perfect pass, instead when under pressure you might need to take a free kick and start again.
 
Agree, he has definitely improved over the last couple of seasons, that doesn't mean there weren't genuine reasons to have doubts about him in previous seasons. I just hope that form continues as we're unbelievably reliant on him.
 
Now that Edward Woodward has said no contract talks are imminent with anyone, it probably makes it a very big year for someone like Carrick who not only has just a year left on his current deal (if the papers got his last one correct) he's over 30 and come in the 30+ = 1 year deal thing.

Makes the midfield issue even more depressing for me. At least give our best midfielder an extension and tie him down Woodward!
 
SirFergie said:
His defensive ability definitely improved last season. I think we all knew he was a brilliant footballer.
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That's always been a quality facet of his game. Last year he just grew a larger set of testicles, stamping more authority and class on games than in years gone by. His passing was also as authoritative as it has been at any point since about 2008 in my opinion.
 
Tbf it helped that most the time he had someone with both a decent understanding of how to play midfield and the physicality to do it in cleverley who still isn't particularly great there. Off the ball Scholes was pretty much someone you can just run past, Giggs tended/tends to go awol, Jones likewise although he was a bit better this season, and when we played the diamond with Rooney we were more secure. Doesn't really matter who you are, one guy can't tidy up a whole midfield. But would also say he's become more authoritative. Really think that this season if we can get him a class partner, we can really dominate in the middle again. It's a shame that it's taken so long as he's been in good form for two seasons now, and with a better partner we really could have done a lot better in europe at the least.
 
JaffyJoe said:
Agreed Xavi, Scholes, Pirlo etc he just wasn't consistent enough and didn't boss games enough before he has grown into that role.
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Exactly. A lot of people who now like to spout that Carrick was always this amazing player at United throughout his whole career use this line that all those who don't agree are footballing Neanderthals who have suddenly seen the light.
 
Irwynwastheking said:
Exactly. A lot of people who now like to spout that Carrick was always this amazing player at United throughout his whole career use this line that all those who don't agree are footballing Neanderthals who have suddenly seen the light.
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Carrick wasn't at his best for a season or two, I've felt that generally he's not always looked to cease the mantel when he could, I've never doubted his ability but more his mentality. But having said that I don't think it's really that fair that people generally don't factor in the fact that since his initial two seasons here and one and a half seasons when Fletcher was at his best (and where Carrick could have stepped up more), he's rarely had a proper partner. In terms of consistency, someone who doesn't need Carrick's protection/him covering for him and can take the pressure off him. If Carrick doesn't/didn't perform no one is gonna really step up in the middle.

As I said before Scholes has been great in possession over these last years as always, but more and more particularly with the recent emphasis on central based football he's become exposed and his lack of physical ability has added pressure to Carrick. Then Fletcher aside, Carrick has had Ando, Giggs, Clev, Jones as his main partners pretty much all of them not natural central midfielders, all of them lacking experience there.

When you look at the great midfields it's usually a combo, not one loan guy doing it on his own. You need that support and Carrick has rarely had that.
 
Carrick's only major blip was that period after we won the title in 2009 through to around March 2011 when he found his form again. No footballer goes through 7 years of amazingness.

His defensive nous has improved significantly, but given the fact he's played some of his best football with a declining Scholes and Ryan Giggs, I can see why people rate this recent period higher than his first two or three seasons.
 
Irwynwastheking said:
What utter nonsense.
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It's not utter nonsense, even if it's not quite right. Carrick definitely made a noticeable step up last season but he was already a good midfielder, and had been for years. The 'Carrick is shit and only passes sideways' bollocks that other English fans liked to spout did have a lot to do with the fact that he wasn't Gerrard, flying into tackles and constantly trying hollywood balls over the top.

EDIT: Just watched that video for about the hundredth time. :drool: I love how even his slide-tackles are passes!
 
He certainly kicked on last season with both his performances and his leadership capabilities. The latter in particular for me. You could see the difference in his confidence levels just by watching him and vocally he has come on a long way. He is a senior player now - his leadership capabilities have improved improved a great deal, and his confidence levels have shot up.

I've always rated him, but he stepped up a gear last season. His positional play from a defensive point of view improved dramatically last season, and he keeps things ticking over in an area of the pitch that requires some guts to perform in. It's great to see him recieving plaudits because of it.
 
Brightonian said:
It's not utter nonsense, even if it's not quite right. Carrick definitely made a noticeable step up last season but he was already a good midfielder, and had been for years. The 'Carrick is shit and only passes sideways' bollocks that other English fans liked to spout did have a lot to do with the fact that he wasn't Gerrard, flying into tackles and constantly trying hollywood balls over the top.

EDIT: Just watched that video for about the hundredth time. :drool: I love how even his slide-tackles are passes!
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Read what I said was utter nonsense before telling me I'm wrong. He declared that the only reason people didn't rate Carrick highly during those years when he was poor was because he wasn't kicking people which is utter garbage of the highest order.
 
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