Injured for a month with ankle ligament damage.
Alas poor Carrick...WTF has happened?
- Thread starter Carl
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Surprised not more has been made of this? I guess the Mata deal is distracting a lot of people.
He hasn't been brilliant this season but it's still a huge blow, and we are now looking really poor in CM. I'm completely behind the idea of not signing a player for the sake of it, and if we can't get anyone now then let's wait until the summer...but with our only options are currently Clev, Jones, Giggs and Fletcher.
Whens Fellaini due back?
He hasn't been brilliant this season but it's still a huge blow, and we are now looking really poor in CM. I'm completely behind the idea of not signing a player for the sake of it, and if we can't get anyone now then let's wait until the summer...but with our only options are currently Clev, Jones, Giggs and Fletcher.
Whens Fellaini due back?
He's a pussy who only has one year left apparently so it doesn't matter.
Yet the same people will be highlighting his absence as key in 2 or 3 weeks when the Mata euphoria wears off (unless there is an additional player to throw into the mix).
Our best run this season was sans Carrick (mostly).
I read last night that it was just a sprain, a month out is a blow given how weak we are in CM even though he hasn't been playing well.
Cough *van persie* cough.
He was injured and all. I'm talking about that period after the Newcastle game, then Carrick came back vs. Hull was it on Boxing Day? Then we looked piss poor vs. Norwich and nicked a win and since then it's been all downhill.
Probably more to do with losing Rooney than the reintroduction of Carrick.
Ah so Carrick is the reason we're shit now?
Maybe, confidence being extremely brittle too but Carrick's form this season isn't really enough for me to miss him being out for a month. It's not ideal I suppose.
Ah yes, I remember... He played when we beat Arsenal, but then got injured and missed the next 4 matches when we gto 2 points in total from Cardiff, Spurs, Everton and Newcastle.
And then we won 6 games in a row (1 of which he started and played crapped in) before losing 5 out of 6 when he was back fully. Carrick's been shit this year.
Our record with Carrick: W13 D3 L6
Our record without Carrick:W7 D3 L3
It's hardly daming stuff.
I don't know, I think it's a bit overstated. In 11/12, he started off really well. I remember him coming on for Cleverley against Bolton and controlling the game after that. He then performed great against Swansea (away) which got him more recognition, partly because Cleverley and Anderson weren't defensively great.
He's 32 and the slow start can't be used as an excuse. He's an experienced player who should be doing better. Like a lot of our other "experienced" players, he's disappointed me this season. We need an orchestrator next to him, but it shouldn't be who gets the best out of him at this stage. He's still our best central midfielder, but that isn't good enough for me. Was Fellaini a replacement for him? Why did we buy Fellaini? That isn't a knock on Fellaini, but I want to know how we're going to use him. Oh, and for those saying that we looked better without Carrick... We really didn't. We had a few games where our central midfielders forgot how to drop deep (Real Sociedad game used an example). Moyes was more or less forced into dropping Rooney deeper (three-man midfield) to make up for the loss of Carrick, and thus we ended up playing some very good football against Aston Villa and West Ham. Since Carrick has been back, we have gone back to playing a two-man midfield (bar the Tottenham game).
Carrick possibly being available is great. He hasn't really managed to get into his stride this season and I can't put my finger on it. Sometimes it's looked like he's sat far too deep, almost a third CB which only serves to further increase the big, wide, open, unoccupied space between the midfield and strikers. Other times he seems a tad uncertain of the role he's being given. Unsure whether to support the team and push up or whether he just has to sit, more often than not cautiously opting to do the latter. For me he isn't a pure DM and shouldn't be sitting so deep because he's far too important in our overall passing game to be so under-utilised further up in midfield.
I don't want to judge him too harshly either, he was excellent last season and this season has unfortunately been fragmented by injuries. Just as it seems he's starting to regain a semblance of form he's injured again and the process starts over with him slowly growing into form. Can't help but hope him, Rooney and RvP can kick on in this latter part of the season. I voted Carrick as my player of the season last year, such was his importance to the team, carrying the midfield on his own at times. A lot has been made of the firepower we have missed in the absence of Rooney and RvP but Carricks coolness and composure in midfield has been a big miss too. His confidence last season is definitely something we could do with now.
I don't want to judge him too harshly either, he was excellent last season and this season has unfortunately been fragmented by injuries. Just as it seems he's starting to regain a semblance of form he's injured again and the process starts over with him slowly growing into form. Can't help but hope him, Rooney and RvP can kick on in this latter part of the season. I voted Carrick as my player of the season last year, such was his importance to the team, carrying the midfield on his own at times. A lot has been made of the firepower we have missed in the absence of Rooney and RvP but Carricks coolness and composure in midfield has been a big miss too. His confidence last season is definitely something we could do with now.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...iteds-nani-out-of-action-for-around-one-month
Says that Carrick might be in contention for Stoke game. Thought it wS something that would keep him out till late Feb. good news.
Says that Carrick might be in contention for Stoke game. Thought it wS something that would keep him out till late Feb. good news.
Will be good to see him on the bench. However, in midfield against Stoke, whoever we play in there, as poor as it might be, will still be far better than anything Stoke can put together. So I don't see any need to rush Carrick back. Good opportunity for Fletcher to get 90mins, maybe Cleverley to get another start, even Fellaini to feature at some point.
I think that good (or less crap rather) run of form was down to a few things, but one of them definitely was having some tempo in midfield in Carrick's absense. He came back against Norwich and put in one of the worst individual performances I've ever seen, and to be honest has barely improved since.
He is a passenger at the moment and no matter how important someone might be to the team when they're playing well (and there's no denying that applies to Carrick), there's no reason to keep them in the team if it means the team has to carry them. In Carrick's current form, the likes of Cleverley, Phil Jones, Fletcher etc are better options. Anyone prepared to put in any kind of positive contribution is, to be honest. I've never seen a United player prepared to offer so little and be seemingly contempt with it...well, if you ignore Rio and Vidic's contributions to this season, which have basically been the same except worse.
I think it's acceptable to give a player time to play themselves back into form, but that amount of time isn't over half a season. Especially not when we desperately need some consistency and to win games, and said player is having a pretty much undeniable impact on our ability to do so. There also aren't enough (or any in fact) signs from Carrick that he is attempting to force himself back into form. He seems all too happy to hide away for my liking. From a character and mentality point of view it comes across as somewhat pathetic.
It might seem harsh, but that's the reality of it. If you're supposedly playing for Manchester United because you're a "winner" then you have to act like a winner, not a gutless coward.
He is a passenger at the moment and no matter how important someone might be to the team when they're playing well (and there's no denying that applies to Carrick), there's no reason to keep them in the team if it means the team has to carry them. In Carrick's current form, the likes of Cleverley, Phil Jones, Fletcher etc are better options. Anyone prepared to put in any kind of positive contribution is, to be honest. I've never seen a United player prepared to offer so little and be seemingly contempt with it...well, if you ignore Rio and Vidic's contributions to this season, which have basically been the same except worse.
I think it's acceptable to give a player time to play themselves back into form, but that amount of time isn't over half a season. Especially not when we desperately need some consistency and to win games, and said player is having a pretty much undeniable impact on our ability to do so. There also aren't enough (or any in fact) signs from Carrick that he is attempting to force himself back into form. He seems all too happy to hide away for my liking. From a character and mentality point of view it comes across as somewhat pathetic.
It might seem harsh, but that's the reality of it. If you're supposedly playing for Manchester United because you're a "winner" then you have to act like a winner, not a gutless coward.
Noodlehair Carrick isn't the type of player to throw himself into tackles or spit blood he is more of an elegant player. He has probably been rushed back before being fully fit. Because players like Cleverley have been so bad, Carrick deserves a bit leeway due to what he has done previously and the fact he is coming back from injury, Cleverley and Anderson have been nothing short of below average for a long time. I'm glad Anderson is on his way out and unless there is a massive turnaround with Cleverley he will surely follow. Carrick has nothing to worry about he is proven class.
Carrick's poor season continues, helping Adam's tame freekick into our net and generally looking off the pace throughout the first half.
He wasn't out long enough to be "rushed back" in the sense you're claiming.
This idea of giving players leeway because of what they did last season, 2 years ago etc. has caused us so much fecking harm this season it's ridiculous.
And your point out him being an elegant player is mute, because he hasn't been. He's simply been a passenger.
He's just been shit, game after game, and keeps being picked anyway.
He started off alright in fairness, he tracked a lad back there earlier on and got a good foot on the ball to take it away from him. After that though it all went belly up for him. He was clearly caught in two minds as the ball was heading towards him from that free kick and he shouldn't have been, should have stood his ground.
The wind made it more difficult for him. It happens.
That deflection was either was half hearted or he was in two minds. I can't decide.
United apparently were doing a Q&A with Carrick on twitter. Predictable outcome of joke questions:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ted-fans-vent-fury-clubs-dismal-run-form.html
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...m_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-UK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ted-fans-vent-fury-clubs-dismal-run-form.html
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...m_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-UK
Nothing to rival the classic from Downing's Twitter Q&A at Liverpool...
If you were a footballer, what position would you play?
If you were a footballer, what position would you play?
I mean this against Sunderland sums up our midfield:
Look at that , is there anyone dropping off the forward line to give him an option to his right even with the huge amount of room there? Who is he supposed to pass to?
This is the problem we face. Cleverley, and now Carrick, get stick for passing sideways and backwards but the truth is there is nobody to play the ball to. We revert so much to hitting a long ball, something which Cleverley cannot do, that we have either lost the ability to pass around the middle or just refuse to do it for some reason.
The City game today was a perfect example of how restrained a midfield can become if their only avaliable pass is out wide, sideways or backwards.
As much as Carrick is our best midfielder, I believe he also represents the 'problem' in our midfield to a degree. For me, although everyone cries out for a new Paul Scholes, my concern is how soft we are centrally, and how our central players don't cover ground and close down aggressively enough. Now Michael Carrick is effectively supposed to be the 'hard man' of our two, or the more defensive one to not be sensational about it. This means his partner will invariably be even softer than him, and have an even lesser responsibility to close down. This means that off the ball, we don't get a foot in, and are often overrun.
I've never been one to advocate players on the pitch to be headless chickens, but Carrick and Cleverley, for instance, just isn't going to scare anybody. Earlier this afternoon I mentioned Matic in another thread as the sort we need. With the front 4 we have, especially having signed Mata who will likely play wide and offer very little defensively - the strength of the middle two is key.
The immediate future of the team hinges on who we get to replace Carrick, as opposed to who we get to partner him I think. Put simply, I believe the team would be much better off getting Martinez from Bayern to partner Cleverley than we would getting Kroos to partner Carrick. And I don't rate Cleverley. This is taking into account the creativity we have out wide from Adnan and Mata. The need for a 'Scholes' is lessened, especially as those two will not really be defending.
I've never been one to advocate players on the pitch to be headless chickens, but Carrick and Cleverley, for instance, just isn't going to scare anybody. Earlier this afternoon I mentioned Matic in another thread as the sort we need. With the front 4 we have, especially having signed Mata who will likely play wide and offer very little defensively - the strength of the middle two is key.
The immediate future of the team hinges on who we get to replace Carrick, as opposed to who we get to partner him I think. Put simply, I believe the team would be much better off getting Martinez from Bayern to partner Cleverley than we would getting Kroos to partner Carrick. And I don't rate Cleverley. This is taking into account the creativity we have out wide from Adnan and Mata. The need for a 'Scholes' is lessened, especially as those two will not really be defending.
I just have one thing to ask..Please!
Those saying, "ah he's just slow into his rhythm this year. He's a slow starter, he'll get into his groove." please stop!
It's ridiculous as it's now FEBRUARY!
Those saying, "ah he's just slow into his rhythm this year. He's a slow starter, he'll get into his groove." please stop!
It's ridiculous as it's now FEBRUARY!
We just bypass the midfield far too often, which was a common theme against Stoke with long balls from deep. The off the ball movement is so, so poor. Must be so easy for opposing defenders and midfielders to deal with, when you don't have to track forward runs and the attacking players are either aligned with the defenders in a static line or are hogging the byline.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ium=newsletter&utm_campaign=manchester-united
Some great ones in there, I have to say.
Some great ones in there, I have to say.
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Some of those are brutalThe twitter Q&A went well then
#AskCarrick
- "If a ball leaves your boot travelling at 30 km per hour at 3pm on saturday, how long does it take before the ball reaches De Gea?"
- "If you could drop one player from the team, how would you tell Tom Cleverley?"
- "Have you tried wearing your kit backwards to see if it will help you pass the ball forward?"
- "Are you going to reply to any of the #AskCarrick tweets or pass it over to De Gea?"
This is so brutal
Surely some of those questions must have been posted by a Caf member?
- "If a ball leaves your boot travelling at 30 km per hour at 3pm on saturday, how long does it take before the ball reaches De Gea?"
- "If you could drop one player from the team, how would you tell Tom Cleverley?"
- "Have you tried wearing your kit backwards to see if it will help you pass the ball forward?"
- "Are you going to reply to any of the #AskCarrick tweets or pass it over to De Gea?"
This is so brutal
Surely some of those questions must have been posted by a Caf member?
It would have been a bold move to let him go in the summer but since he was given a two year deal, I would be surprised if he wasn't a first choice midfielder for another season. Frankly, the midfield situation is a complete mess with far too many squad players and this season at least, no sign of any quality.
Those are fantastic
The best one for me was "on a scale of Tom Cleverley to 10, how bad is Ashley Young?" even though I'm a Cleverley fan, that shit was funny.
even though I'm a Cleverley fan, that shit was funny.