11 Reasons why Michael Carrick will be a legend
When Michael Carrick first came to Manchester United, there was a lot of criticism. He couldn’t tackle or shoot, and we didn’t need a short-passer to replace the midfield general that was Roy Keane. And wasn’t 18m too much for a passing midfielder who couldn’t do much else?
In 8 months (September to April), Michael Carrick has answered his critics, and then some. Here’s a look at 11 iron-clad reasons why this man is every bit a Manchester United legend in the making.
1. He is as good a passer as Paul Scholes.
Carrick has an extraordinary range of passing – he plays the short passes with near perfection, and he consistently finds gaps and the front strikers in good positions. He brings a stability to United’s fluid pass and attack game and at 25, he’ll be around for at least 6-7 years. Long-term quality, I tell you.
2. He is one of the better defensive midfielders in the Premiership
Yes, he doesn’t tackle, but that’s because his defensive game is based on not committing and ensuring that the ball stays away from the defense. He routinely shepherds the ball out to the flanks in an attempt to prevent any direct attacks to United’s goal.
And contrary to popular opinion that was prevalent at the time of his move, he does not need a hard-man running next to him to help him out in midfield. Although Hargreaves won’t hurt.
3. His attacking play is extremely under-rated
Ferguson almost never allows Carrick to have the freedom to roam. When he does get the chance, like he did against Sheffield United, Carrick was all over the place, popping up on the left and right flanks as well as making runs in the box. He can, if he plays in the position Scholesy plays in, regularly get 10+ goals each season. What more can you ask from a central midfielder who can’t shoot?
4. In less than a season he’s become the heart of United’s midfield
Manchester United’s fluid passing game has won them many admirers this season, and a lot of credit for that goes to the hard-working, unassuming Michael Carrick. He sits back, connects the moves, threads passes through to start counter-attacks, all the while letting more ‘flashy’ team mates take the limelight with the runs and the goals.
Take him out, and United’s fast game will suffer, and you’d probably see United lose possession a lot more in midfield.
Keeps possession, connects the team, etc etc, you get the picture.
5. He’s only 25
And he’s already good. And as you’ll see in the next point, he’s always willing to improve. Considering that he’s already focused on the long-term impact of his game (his strengths are those attributes and skills that players rely on more and more as they age – passing, timing, positioning, finishing, etc), in a couple of years he will have easily filled that big #16 shirt.
6. He’s humble AND ambitious
Humble enough that he gives others credit first and always passes instead of shooting (someone has to tell him to stop doing that) and he knows what his faults are. Ambitious enough that he is always striving to improve his game and be the best, and we’ve seen that in his game throughout the season as he’s turned from a guy who couldn’t shoot to a guy who scores good goals from long-range.
Speaking of which…
7. He scores amazing goals
And he’d score more of them if he was pushed slightly forward instead of having to sit back and cover the defence.
Don’t believe me? I thought you might not.
Here’s a look at a few of Carrick’s goals this season:
Carrick 1 (Roma)
Carrick 2 (Roma again)
Carrick 3 (Slide-rule shot, passed through the defence into goal)
Carrick 4 (poor quality, but again outside the box)
Carrick 5 
8. His West Ham background
He comes from a group of very talented players who played together at West Ham. Lampard, Joe Cole, and Defoe are, like Carrick, players who would be regular starters for any of the top 4 Premiership sides. Like a similar group of talented kids from the last decade, this bunch looks to be very good as well.
9. Alex Ferguson and the #16 shirt
Ferguson, for my money, judges players to perfection when he gives them ‘special’ numbers. Ronaldo got Beckham’s #7 and after a promising first couple of years he is fulfilling (some would say exceeding) the expectations that come from wearing that shirt.
Roy Keane is a tough act to follow, but Ferguson’s eye for talent is amongst the best in the world and he knows the importance of the #16 shirt to the fans – if he thinks Carrick is up to it, it’s hard to disagree with him.
10. His dead-ball skills
His free-kicks and corners are usually top-notch, although unlike Ronaldo he doesn’t go for goal, preferring instead to provide assists. And with his passing ability, those are near-Beckham-esque in their quality.
11. His days at Tottenham
An excellent compilation of Carrick’s previous season (his last at Tottenham) shows exactly why he was so highly regarded at Spurs and why they were so reluctant to let him go. Given time at United, Carrick can dominate United’s midfield the same way he did Tottenham’s, and when that starts happening you will see a very dangerous United.
Topics: Features, Manchester United, Michael Carrick
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I think you are just a bit obsessed about him mate.
As a United fan, he has been a bit of a let down for me. He was a very good player at Tottenham, but only plays averagely for united.
As for being one of the best defensive mid in the prem, i higly doubt it. He cannot tackle…all he really does is pass, which is no where near Beckahm quality.
Only 25 you say? John Obi Mikel is less than 19 i think, and i rate them equally as good as each other.
18.6 mill was not worth it, Hargreaves would be better IMHO. We will wait and see.
April 30th, 2007 @ 17:53good god man. Michael carrick is the new juan veron. He is too slow in the head to play in central midfield for Man utd. It’s like watching john ‘cowhead’ o’shea, except O’Shea is better at tackling and didn’t cost 18 million.
Everyone keeps going on about how great carrick’s passing is, but firstly he keeps giving the ball away, and secondly he slows down attacks when the high tempo game of scholes is called for.
Apart from being physically weak, mentally slow, and completely incapable of tackling, he’s fine.
April 30th, 2007 @ 18:21I think you guys are overly critical on the lad
I think he’s quality and one of the reasons weve performed so well
Give him a few seasons and people will start compering him to a certain pirlo
April 30th, 2007 @ 18:51I’m not Carricks biggest lover, but at this time of the season we should all be celebrating our clubs success and our key players’ (including Carrick) rise to the top of the pile.
Ian – John Obi Mikel lacks one major quality that a club like United demand, WANTING TO PLAY FOR THE SHIRT. Carrick knows what wearing the shirt is about and to that end he should be applauded for his contribution, not hounded for his weak areas. We’d all love the 100% perfect player but it’s not realistic so we make the best out of what we’ve got, and that best has took us back to the top.
With regards to the £18.6million headline fee, don’t forget we only pay £13mil(ish) up front (which I think we can all agree he’s worth that) and the other £5mil if we win EVERYTHING and Carrick goes on to X-amount of appearances. So in real terms (if he was the missing link) winning the league and possibly the Champions LEague and the FA Cup will cost us £5mil in add-ons. I’LL TAKE THAT FOR £5million, and so did Sir Alex.
April 30th, 2007 @ 18:55Ian,
I very much doubt you are a United fan, if you are then you’re the type of fan who has never been to a game, and knows nothing about football.
Carrick has been fantastic this season, I completely agree with this article, his range of passing has been a joy to watch, Scholes has built up an understanding with him now, and he looks like he will be the heartbeat of this team for years to come.
An absolute snip at £14m (raising to £18m if we win a shed load of trophies)
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:05simonthered – Carrick’s deal is similar to Rooney’s – for whom we paid an initial 23m.
And one thing bothers me – everyone hounds Carrick for not playing like Keano. Thing is, he’s not the same type of player, and that’s not his job either.
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:09Ian, your talking absolute rubbish man. how can anybody say carrick has been anything but brilliant ? first, he has done brilliantly well to adapt and fit into a new team, and thats bloody hard, just ask mr. ballack and mr. shevchenko. secondly, his passing is as good as scholes’ and that is bloody tough to do. he has consistenly improved his long ball distribution and you can actually see the way he has evolved through out the season.Third, If im not mistaken he had scored some rubbish like only 2 or 3 goals for spurs, he has scored a lot more for united and like ahmed points out, some of them have been world class. Four, its tough to be told “ok, here you go, your going to be our new roy keane!”. in his pre-season interviews he said he wasnt bothered by it, but how could you not be ? he has done really well to fill those big boots of that no. 16 jersey and i must admit, i was one of the many who thought 18 was a bit too much for him. But now, i would say its a bargain. how could you not ?
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:12I’d say he’s been among the best central midfielders this season. Scholsey is my favourite player and to my delight Carrick is Scholes part 2.
On point you missed Ahmed, is the power he puts on his passes. His passes seem to have this natural pace and energy in them to travel longer distances, in fact the ball doesn’t seem to slow down by the time it reaches a player.
Nobody seems to have this ability, not even Scholes. Gerrard can put some power in his passes but you can see that he kicks the ball hard. Carrick seems to “time” the ball like a good cricket shot.
What surprises me is that why doesn’t he score more goals?!!
It’s only a matter of time though, if he can make such accurate and powerful passes so easily without kicking the ball that hard, then he can take a hard shot and the ball can zoom into the goal.
Basically I’m trying to say is that a “hard Carrick pass” into the goal would be anybody’s blistering long range effort.
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:18Carrick will be a great goalscorer in a couple of years max, i expect him to take 15 next season, provided he starts regularly.
Ahmed – I understand the deals, I just don’t like United fans being sucked into the headline price tags from the ABU red tops.
Last summer we were told that we’d sold Ruud for a paltry £10million and bought Carrick for a staggering £18.6million, when in truth if all Ruud’s clauses are met I believe we end up just short of £14million having only laid out £13million(ish) up front for Carrick.
As it happens Ruud’s not going to hit his clauses whereas Carrick and Rooney are, but that is the point of the clauses. They seem insignificant in value compared to the glory (and riches) of success.
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:19By the way Ahmed, I’m surprised Mourinho hasn’t made more of the fact that if we win the treble Everton will get £1.75million in clauses. Conspiracy anyone……….Jose.
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:22perif – he doesn’t score because he’s sitting back covering the defence. Over the season he’s gained in confidence and has started coming forward more and more often.
Hargreaves’ arrival if/when it happens, will allow Carrick more freedom to push forward. I’d go for 10, not 15
Good point on the timing of his passes, he does that really well.
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:26Michael Carrick: Who says he doesn’t tackle, watch a couple of games and see how many tackles Carrick makes on the edge of his own 18 yard area! The lads workrate is phenomenal, and the people who doubt his passing ability have clearly never played the game.
You question the lads finishing I hear aswell, look at the quality of the goals he has scored, admitedly he hasn’t scored enough of them but it’s his first season playing for arguably the biggest club in the world, give him a break!
People keep asking for him to replace keano, that isn’t going to happen, what he can do though, is fill the #16 shirt and make it his own. In football you don’t replace, you make a shirt yours, another #16 to remember, and thats exactly where Michael Carrick is heading.
Sir Alex, among the top three managers ever to have graced the game, along with Clough, and it pains me to say, Shankley, sees Carrick every day in training, and he payed a hell of a lot of money for him, so he obviously has time on his side with manager.
Further to his ability, he has added the one ingredient United haven’t had the last few years, the man in the middle who gets the ball, and plays the ball, and every team needs one. He’s also added the fear factor to uniteds midfield, look at it last year, O’ shea, giggs, fletcher and ronaldo wasn’t going to scare may european teams, now we have ronaldo, carrick, scholes and giggs, back to the old force our midfield should be.
Teams can win games before they even step onto the field, this team, with the introduction of Carrick, now has that, people line up scared of what the midfield can do to them, and thats without considering young Rooney, scary eh???
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:30Ian, ha! What does Obi Mikel exactly do? He’s just a poor man’s Makalele. The fact that you even mentioned Obi shows which team do you support. We all know that Wenger loves players who are able to pass the ball, and that he doesn’t consider the english as technically capable, so what do you make out that he nearly bought Carrick if it wasn’t for Viera going back and staying? For nearly the same price, (remember that Obi cost £16m) I know which one I’d rather have. A talented, humbe, hardworking midfielder or a prima donna, money grabbing, sideways passing one?
April 30th, 2007 @ 19:42Ahmed i haven’t always agreed with some of your articles but this one is spot on. He has been the link this season from turning defence into attack so fast and when utd have been under pressure, his ability to keep hold of the ball and lay it off simply, has been a key success in utd dominating games they havent previously done in the last few seasons. As he has youth on his side his work rate is tremendous and because of his constant harrying, he has allowed for scholes to work further up the pitch thus allowing scholes to do his thing. i just wish scholes was younger because these two could have been the heart of man utd for many years to come.
April 30th, 2007 @ 20:12i’ve never been so proud to be a man utd supporter. This could be a season never forgotten.
12th reason – he’s a Geordie – and we know how good those guys are at football
April 30th, 2007 @ 20:37He has really come into his own at ManU …. and will be challenging for England spot.
There was a 12th reason on here earlier, but seems to have changed!
April 30th, 2007 @ 20:50[...] 11 Reasons why Michael Carrick will be a Manchester United legend This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series, Manchester và tôi. 11 Reasons why Michael Carrick will be a Manchester United legend [...]
April 30th, 2007 @ 21:02We shall wait and see.But my take is its still a long time to go.He is still in the shadow of Paul Scholes and,Ryan Giggs that is why is performing.
April 30th, 2007 @ 21:10MarkB – yes, there was, but I found that people tended to focus on that reason instead of the other 11 reasons, so I took it out
April 30th, 2007 @ 21:12I’m glad I found this article – I’ve been a big fan of Carrick and I really think his play has been the catalyst of ManU incredible season.
I think I heard the reason Fergie was so interested in him was he always seems to create space for himself and time on the ball, which is exepensive real estate in the Prem.
His link up play has been the piece of the puzzle that was missing at ManU for the past few seasons. He is also the reason I like watching ManU now. Since Bergkamp retired somebody had to step up and show us how to pass.
April 30th, 2007 @ 21:14I’ve always like Carrick’s style of play – unfussy but effective and he keeps the team ticking. One obvious benefit of NOT playing like Keane is the improved disciplinary record and hopefully, less injuries.
Early days to see if he’s going to reach anywhere close to Keane’s status but he’s clearly improved since his days at Spurs. Witness his more frequent goal-scoring exploits. And like you pointed out, he’s young and can still step up his game. Utd’s going to get his best playing years. The fact that he doesn’t have an ego as huge as Lampard’s is another plus point for me.
Last of all, can we stop whining about the cost? Fergie felt he was worth it and we’ve gotten this far with a Carrick-Scholes combi, what more do fans want?
April 30th, 2007 @ 21:39If we do win the Treble this season, the prize money will more than cover his fee. Well worth it, and he’s only going to get better too.
April 30th, 2007 @ 22:55I think that he was the player with the highest number of tackles in prem last season, and one of the highest in United this season.
April 30th, 2007 @ 23:43I’d rather see Carrick play a more attacking role for United, as I think he’s done this season the few times that he hasn’t played with Scholes.
Thank you
To all you who have just rubbished this blog-you have no idea about football. Anyone who has played at a decent level or even understands the game properly should be able to see how good Carrick is, and the huge difference he’s made. I sit at old trafford week in, week out watching the game and getting the best view of the WHOLE game.
Carrick does everything without needing to first take a touch, then get his head up, like a lot of other players. He is far quicker ‘in the head’ (how one person on here just desribed him being too slow I’ll never know) but if you can’t see his impact in United rediscovering our fast fluid football again then go and support Chelsea.
His passing is second to none. It makes me laugh when people have a go because he has just tried a flick round the corner that no one else would have seen. Fletcher has had a couple of good games recently but if you just watch the difference in complexity of passing you will see the difference in quality. Take the Roma goals, not the ones Carrick scored but the ones he started. Smiths goal where the ball came to him very quickly on to his weaker foot but he was still able to take it on the half volley, thread it through a tight gap and start one of the best goals of the game.
Carrick will never be someone who steels the limelight, simply because there aren’t enough fans who understand the game enough. Sorry, but if your thinking I’m wrong then you are probably one of them and you probably grew up on sunday league football, hit the big man up front, and have a crack on first site of goal. Go watch the games on tape and count the passes, look how many counter attacks start with Carrick, look how often Carrick makes the right decisions in terms of positive/negative passes.
April 30th, 2007 @ 23:56Surely this is all a bit over the top. Hes good and improved your team SLIGHTLY, but Id say the performances of three or four of your other players has been more important. Where was his great defensive work when you lot were up against tough opposition? (arsenal, chelsea, AC Milan)
May 1st, 2007 @ 00:04The first couple of moments led me to think my fellow United fans know nothing about football but the rest eased my fears. I’m happy that most of you appreciate Carrick.
MDH: He was very good in all of those games…
May 1st, 2007 @ 01:04MDH
You obviously have no clue what you are talking about seeing as carrick was MOTM for the arsenal match we lost 2-1
May 1st, 2007 @ 02:02ur rite, fergie does pick the rite players. i was surprised when we payed 18 mill, but now think hes well worth it. just as i do about rooneys’s 30 mill etc..
May 1st, 2007 @ 02:04€30mill. for a unproven player is a bit much if i may so and i really diagree with you Ahmed, Carrick’s pass are nowhere near as good as Paul Scholes.
I think Alex Ferguson settled for Michael Carrick when he couldn’t get Diarra or Hargreaves.
May 1st, 2007 @ 02:05Carrick can pass brilliantly with BOTH feet. Scholes can’t do that so well.
May 1st, 2007 @ 02:13Carrick can pass brilliantly with BOTH feet. Even the long range passes too. Scholes can’t do that so well.
May 1st, 2007 @ 02:14I said he’s as good a passer as Scholes, not better than him.
May 1st, 2007 @ 02:18Haha
As long as we throwing around these wild allegations, why dont we just say he is a better freekick taker then Nakamura or a better dribbler then Ronaldinho .. LOL! Come on guys.
May 1st, 2007 @ 02:24HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT HE WILL BECOME A LEGEND!!!!!!!!!! HE HAS JUST PLAY LESS THAN A SEASON. YOU SAY THAT 10 GOALS IS A GREAT NUMBER FOR A CENTRAL MIDFIELDER THEN PLAYERS LIKE F.LAMPARD WHO HAS BEEN MAKING AROUND 20 GOALS PER SEASON FOR THE LAST 3 OR 4 SEASONS WHAT?????
May 1st, 2007 @ 03:05Andrei MEZA!!! All teams play a different style of football some teams have high scoring central mids some have wingers while other like our have everyone scoring!!! n yes i back this up by saying…. scholes n carrick between them have ONLY 10 goals in the EPL!! YET united have outscored all the other epl teams by vast margins… so if carrick would get 10 a season it would be a GREAT return!!! besides UR F.LAMPARD n carrick dont play in the same position!!
May 1st, 2007 @ 04:06Lampard is overrated. And you don’t need to score 10+goals to become a legend. Ask scholes, keane, viera bout that. Gattuso, pirlo, Riqulme? Everyone have their own style of play and carrick has his own.
May 1st, 2007 @ 05:22Andrei – you have much to learn about football. Firstly, comparing a player with him like lampard shows your lack of footballing knowledge. Lampard plays in a free role in the chelsea midfield, which allows him to be in thoose goal scoring positions when a chance arrives. Carrick on the other hand is told to protect the defense, making sure the ball stays away from the defense and really start off flowing moves which is the main reason why United are going for the treble.
The fact is where coming to the end of the first season, and yet he is has developed into such a player that if he continues this progress he could be considered to be a legend.
May 1st, 2007 @ 06:17does anyone think manchester should have gone for nakamura? he’s like Park.. except much better haha
i’m biased but still.. there isnt any real comparison
May 1st, 2007 @ 07:42Spot on hakieran!!!
May 1st, 2007 @ 07:43Redondo – Diarra and Hargreaves are entirely different players from Carrick. Hargreaves’ strengths are mainly destructive – an ankle snapper par excellence if you would have it and he doesn’t have Carrick’s vision in terms of passing.
Fergie himself has admitted that he was looking at a Hargreaves – Carrick partnership in the very long term when Scholes retires, allowing himself a different kind of midfield for United. Similar to Gattuso and Pirlo for AC Milan.
He did not “settle” for Carrick when he couldn’t get Hargreaves. He wanted both players, only Bayern did not cooperate and Hargreaves himself complicated matters by having signed that new contract earlier.
May 1st, 2007 @ 07:58carrick is class fullstop! he will be one of the united greats!
May 1st, 2007 @ 09:58Lampard was an example only Carrick is a very good player the only thing that i dont like is that making only 10 goals in a season is rated to be a legend
May 1st, 2007 @ 20:28lol Andrei i give up wid u! His role is not to score goals, its simply to protect the defense and start flowing moves. Here’s some stats from Actim of the premiership games his played in.
Overall
Appearances: 30
Minutes on pitch: 2468
[Been there for most of the campaign, and influential in United's Success so far]
Defence
Fouls committed: 28
Yellow cards: 2
Red cards: 0
[Considering he guards the defence, his foul count is low and he has only picked up 2 yellows this season].
Attack
May 1st, 2007 @ 23:17Assists: 3
Caught offside: 0
Crosses: 15
Goals: 3
Shots on goal: 13
Shots/goal: 4.33
[Needs to make more shots at goal, but considering he scores every 4.3 shots is incredible. Assists is a surprising stat]
Quite simply, Man Utd are on the virge of winning the Premiership, are in the final of the FA Cup and hopefully will book a place in the Champion’s League final within 24 hours. I don’t recall them doing any of that last season, so that makes him a pretty good buy in my book.
May 2nd, 2007 @ 03:51Carrick is Good but won’t be legend. Ppl like Stevie G & Lampard become legends. Try comparing carrick with stevie G & Lampard and you know the difference between good players & great players. Though one point that works for him is his age.He’s only 25.
May 2nd, 2007 @ 09:30sign nakamura to alterrnate with the quite injury-prone park. sell richardson, silvestre and fletcher. get nolan, parker, bale, martins and DAVID VILLA!
May 3rd, 2007 @ 13:33hey blood diamond, i suspect u r sleepin since such players as martins, nolan, VILLA etc only join the mancs in the drimz!!!! so pliz wak up. and about carrick, he has cost the mancs 17.5 million more than wat a far more superior, younger player cost the mighty gooners(underlining the superiority of Wenger over the Scot. So to all of u, go n join Blood diamond in his sleep. There u may even see Ronaldinho, Kaka, Maradona n Pele in the crazy mancs!!!!
May 3rd, 2007 @ 17:07Last night shat on your second point Ahmed. Without a Gattusso/Hargreaves alongside him Carrick is relatively useless.
May 3rd, 2007 @ 19:20[...] yesterday, even worse than Dyer and Smith because his poor positioning cost England two goals. I am a BIG fan of Carrick, and I still think that he deserves to play for England, but what he did yesterday was [...]
August 23rd, 2007 @ 11:03Michael Carrick is a fantastic player for united!! his different range of passing ability is awesome and he can tackle. Last season he was great and a big part of united’s team, people who doubt him, certainly do not know alot about football.
October 16th, 2008 @ 23:44one of the best midfielders i have seen is carrick.he rocks and so does giggs,g neville,and scholes
November 19th, 2008 @ 11:31replcement:lol
hes one of the best.uve seen him scoring in total about 11 goals so far for three seasons.n since his arrival,united has been winning trophies.so he does really bring a huge impact to the team.hes better than frank lampard n stevie g.
ANDREI,
December 11th, 2008 @ 05:03u dun really know anything about football.do you?
what makes me laugh is if you go to the first comments at the top of the page (in 2007) then scroll down to the most recentcomments you see how opinions have changed so much Lol
but, coming from a non man utd fan , i will say the guy is class. i am shocked (and atually a bit pissed off) that he is not in the England team over either Lampard or Gerrard (in my opinion i would drop Lampard)
Like the writer said – he defends, he can attack, he can shoot, he can take penalties , his passing and vision (especially his passing!) its absolutely amazing. he can get the bal through the tiniest gaps. Anf pretty much all of Man Utd’s attacks actually start from a carrick pass.
January 21st, 2009 @ 19:48