[MyOnlySolskjaer]

It's a priority to actually get his heir right in the Summer, it's the simple forward passes that we've been missing to unlock the game.

 

[#07]

Hard to believe its not Scholes...

 

[Zoo]

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I gave him a 6, definitely didn't think he was any better than that.

I don't really get how though... I mean, we were obviously miles, miles better then we have been in the league in god knows how long... and a fundamental reason for that was how quickly we were getting the ball to our forward players in dangerous positions... and we could do that because Carrick a) didn't spend an eternity on the ball, often taking 1 or 2 touches and getting rid of the ball quickly, and with purpose, b) had the passing range to put excellent balls into our forward players and c) was constantly looking for forward passes.

Not only that, he was constantly moving into space ahead of whoever had the ball... a recurring theme of his play was going for the quick one two around his man before spreading the ball out into a dangerous area. It was excellent, forward thinking movement that constantly put us on the front foot.

 

[Sylar]

We need him (and hopefully Basti) fit for the majority of the rest of the season now. Mostly so they can rotate and keep em both fresh (how we were doing early in the season which was working decent).

 

[Brwned]

He's been our worst player, skinned easily, slipped in midfield and a terrible header in our own box all put us in difficulty.

Amazing.

 

[RonaldoVII]

Thought he was really good, his range of passing is excellent and he plays it forward and with pace. He defines our attacks.

 

[Manny]

I gave him a 7 but I always seem to score 1 point less then the rest of Caf, so call it an 8.

His influence on games is massively under appreciated.

I don't really get how though... I mean, we were obviously miles, miles better then we have been in the league in god knows how long... and a fundamental reason for that was how quickly we were getting the ball to our forward players in dangerous positions... and we could do that because Carrick a) didn't spend an eternity on the ball, often taking 1 or 2 touches and getting rid of the ball quickly, and with purpose, b) had the passing range to put excellent balls into our forward players and c) was constantly looking for forward passes.

d) was not hiding from passes
e) was not needing 20 yards of space in every direction before accepting the ball
f) was not positioning himself 5 yards behind Smalling

 

[Bwuk]

People who don't rate him either have never played the game at a decent sort of level, or are just completely clueless.

By far our best midfielder still.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

d) was not hiding from passes
e) was not needing 20 yards of space in every direction before accepting the ball
f) was not positioning himself 5 yards behind Smalling

Yep, all bang on... I actually specifically want to mention the fact that he wasn't hiding from passes, but forgot... so cheers!

 

[Shark]

Thought he was really good, his range of passing is excellent and he plays it forward and with pace. He defines our attacks.

That's all well and good but after signing Bastian, Morgan and Herrera, it still seems he needs replacing..

 

[Sultan]

Passing and positioning is a masterclass. The only time he's found wanting is when pressed.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Give him MOTM. Controlled the game for me. Desperately need to find a replacement because, like I said before, we have no one like him, and to be fair, his type of player is pretty hard to find.

 

[prarek]

Impressive.

 

[KikiDaKats]

That's all well and good but after signing Bastian, Morgan and Herrera, it still seems he needs replacing..

Because... performance or age?

 

[KikiDaKats]

Give him MOTM. Controlled the game for me. Desperately need to find a replacement because, like I said before, we have no one like him, and to be fair, his type of player is pretty hard to find.

I think Blind might mature into the type..

 

[Cassidy]

I think Blind might mature into the type..

Really like Blind

 

[bucky]

Because... performance or age?

Age obviously.

 

[KikiDaKats]

Age obviously.

Okay.. Just think as long as he capable of performing better than the young ones he should start, the same applies to young players as well. Not playing him because he might not be the same player next season, whilst this one is slipping away is daft.

 

[Shimo]

The pass out from the back to Darmian leading to the 2nd goal - that's what he brings and what we lack when we have Schneiderlin in there. The latter would have just looked at a short pass in that situation but, Carrick has the vision and ability to make those forward passes that get us going. Hopefully Schneiderlin takes the time to learn from Carrick because that deep midfielder players such an important role in getting us moving forward on top of the defensive side of the game.

 

[bucky]

Okay.. Just think as long as he capable of performing better than the young ones he should start, the same applies to young players as well. Not playing him because he might not be the same player next season, whilst this one is slipping away is daft.

It's more about us being proactive than doing it to late like we did with Scholes.

 

[mav_9me]

I don't really get how though... I mean, we were obviously miles, miles better then we have been in the league in god knows how long... and a fundamental reason for that was how quickly we were getting the ball to our forward players in dangerous positions... and we could do that because Carrick a) didn't spend an eternity on the ball, often taking 1 or 2 touches and getting rid of the ball quickly, and with purpose, b) had the passing range to put excellent balls into our forward players and c) was constantly looking for forward passes.

Not only that, he was constantly moving into space ahead of whoever had the ball... a recurring theme of his play was going for the quick one two around his man before spreading the ball out into a dangerous area. It was excellent, forward thinking movement that constantly put us on the front foot.

It's amazing how he is still our best playmaking central midfielder after buying 5 cm ( Fellaini, Blind, Herrera, Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger ). Noone else has his ability to play simple vertical passes to feet to the open attackers.

We either need to but yet another cm playmaker like Modric (not him per se, somebody like him who plays in midfield 2 and is a playmaker) or play Herrera there and get a playmaker like Silva or Isco to replace mata and to be the creative fulcrum.

 

[Nighteyes]

Given he's about 35 he has his flaws and will be inconsistent but his passing is irreplaceable in our squad. A winger and a replacement for him must be top of our wishlist in the summer.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Next summer we must get replacing him next summer completely spot on. Even just off full match fitness he is so critical to our play.

 

[ivaldo]

Amazing.

Are you pretending these things didnt happen in the first half then? Doesn't surprise me, much better in the 2nd though.

 

[2 man midfield]

---------Carrick---------
-----Morgan--Herrera---

Sure, sign an understudy in the summer. But in the big games, he's still our most important player imo.

 

[darioterios]

Are you pretending these things didnt happen in the first half then? Doesn't surprise me, much better in the 2nd though.

it's actually in the 2nd half where he showed some slippy moments, it actually surprises nobody given we've known everything about him

 

[ivaldo]

it's actually in the 2nd half where he showed some slippy moments, it actually surprises nobody given we've known everything about him

As I said the 3 moments I mentioned happened, I didn't make it up, they all put us in a pretty sticky situation too, the reaction of it was say Depay or Fellaini making these error would've been wildly different.

 

[Escobar]

When he's on form, he's just a superb player. His form and fitness will be crucial for us reaching top 4

 

[Treble]

I'm afaraid he will struggle against Chelsea though, especialy if we play the same team. Him and Fellaini aren't the most mobile combo in midfield. Stoke didn't create us problems because they didn't press us properly and Crouch was a joke. It won't be the same at SB.

 

[Ixion]

He played well but before people get carried away remember he played against Bournemouth, Norwich and Stoke when we lost 3 in a row. Him playing doesn't mean we win or even create chances, he is quite inconsistent. When he is on form he makes a big difference though.

 

[Ballache]

been saying it for time, replacing his passing in midfield is vital for us. it adds so much to our game, someone like Gundogan or Kroos would be great.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Are you pretending these things didnt happen in the first half then? Doesn't surprise me, much better in the 2nd though.

When was he getting skinned easily?

As for criticising a guy for slipping... I mean come on, it was pretty wet... anyone can slip over.

The header in our box, if it's the one I was thinking off, was a contested header and not exactly a gimmie, but I might be wrong on that. Regardless, failing to clear our lines at the first time of asking was a recurring theme throughout our team - not just reserved for Carrick.

Ultimately though, the fact that you would focus on these 3 things - 2 of which were isolated incidents, and 1 of which I'm not sure even happened, and completely disregard the huge contribution he made to the fact that we actually played at a higher tempo, seems like a pretty one-eyed view of his performance.

 

[ivaldo]

When was he getting skinned easily?

As for criticising a guy for slipping... I mean come on, it was pretty wet... anyone can slip over.

The header in our box, if it's the one I was thinking off, was a contested header and not exactly a gimmie, but I might be wrong on that. Regardless, failing to clear our lines at the first time of asking was a recurring theme throughout our team - not just reserved for Carrick.

Ultimately though, the fact that you would focus on these 3 things - 2 of which were isolated incidents, and 1 of which I'm not sure even happened, and completely disregard the huge contribution he made to the fact that we actually played at a higher tempo, seems like a pretty one-eyed view of his performance.

It's Carrick, it happened last game aswell, he played a good pass and it was decried that no other player in our team was capable of playing such a pass, despite Blind doing it weekly all season and possibly to better effect. He's hugely overrated by some on this forum (as well as being underrated by others), that's not to say he isn't a great player who improves us when he's playing but for some he could do no wrong. It happened, a few mentioned him being skinned in the match day thread, the header was uncontested - he misjudged it and actually flicked it on into our 6 yard box. The slip occurred because he was flat footed when the ball came to him. As I had previously alluded to these things happen when a player is returning from injury, but why pretend it didn't happen because it's Carrick. If that was Memphis or Fellaini they would've been crucified in the match day thread.

The whole team played with better tempo and it wasn't just because Carrick was there (although of course he was part of that), we've got half a season of shit performances with Carrick in the team where tempo was non existent, the 3 losses on the bounce included.

 

[Giant Midget]

His passes from deep are sexual.

My favourite United player since I first started following the team from 06/07

 

[Annihilate Now!]

It's Carrick, it happened last game aswell, he played a good pass and it was decried that no other player in our team was capable of playing such a pass, despite Blind doing it weekly all season and possibly to better effect. He's hugely overrated by some on this forum (as well as being underrated by others), that's not to say he isn't a great player who improves us when he's playing but for some he could do no wrong. It happened, a few mentioned him being skinned in the match day thread, the header was uncontested - he misjudged it and actually flicked it on into our 6 yard box. The slip occurred because he was flat footed when the ball came to him. As I had previously alluded to these things happen when a player is returning from injury, but why pretend it didn't happen because it's Carrick. If that was Memphis or Fellaini they would've been crucified in the match day thread.

The whole team played with better tempo and it wasn't just because Carrick was there (although of course he was part of that), we've got half a season of shit performances with Carrick in the team where tempo was non existent, the 3 losses on the bounce included.

People mention all sort of shit in a match day thread... I still don't recall Carrick getting skinned easily however.

Anyway, nobody pretends they didn't happen (apart from me) but people forgive them because they weren't big deals in relation to his giant positive contribution to our game. You literally said he was our worst player in the first half... which is baffling considering his presence in the team directly influenced our up-turn in performance level. The whole team played with a better tempo and Carrick was one of the main players for setting that tempo. The fact that he was on the ball more then anyone else illustrates this.

And Blind plays good passes from the back because he's got time and space to do so, Carrick plays good, quick, incisive passes from midfield when he's not got time. That's the difference for me... but regardless, most people have been saying that none of our other midfielders this season can pass a ball like Carrick.

 

[PlayerOne]

You forget how important he is for us, but Carrick showed it again last night. Need to keep him fit for the rest of the season, key player for us. Just makes others around him play better.

 

[ivaldo]

People mention all sort of shit in a match day thread... I still don't recall Carrick getting skinned easily however.

Anyway, nobody pretends they didn't happen (apart from me) but people forgive them because they weren't big deals in relation to his giant positive contribution to our game. You literally said he was our worst player in the first half... which is baffling considering his presence in the team directly influenced our up-turn in performance level. The whole team played with a better tempo and Carrick was one of the main players for setting that tempo. The fact that he was on the ball more then anyone else illustrates this.

And Blind plays good passes from the back because he's got time and space to do so, Carrick plays good, quick, incisive passes from midfield when he's not got time. That's the difference for me... but regardless, most people have been saying that none of our other midfielders this season can pass a ball like Carrick.

Yes he was in the team and obviously contributed to it but as LVG stated post match there was a intentional change to the way we approached the game, before Carrick had even touched the ball it was planned to play with a higher tempo and more aggressively from the off to get that vital early goal. These weren't small incidents, the header in particular could've cost us. When you balance these in with that he did right, it's hardly a stretch to say he was our worst outfield player in that first half. I didn't even say he played poorly, just every one of our players played wonderfully in those first 45 minutes.

That being said I hope he continues in midfield, once he's got a few more games under his belt hopefully these mistakes will be eased out and he can really start dictating games for us, Chelsea will certainly be a tough test.

 

[Manny]

Yes he was in the team and obviously contributed to it but as LVG stated post match there was a intentional change to the way we approached the game, before Carrick had even touched the ball it was planned to play with a higher tempo and more aggressively from the off to get that vital early goal.

What interview was this?

I think I've seen all his interviews from yesterday and he said quite the opposite. That he has not asked for anything different but we took our chances and scored an early goal which gave us confidence. And that team has always had this kind of performance in them.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

My favourite United player since 2010. Put him in the tier below Xavi, when it comes to midfielders. Might be overselling him a bit there, but he's genuinely one of the most intelligent players I've seen.