The big question that surrounds Michael Carrick
There was once a time when Michael Carrick was a permanent fixture in the Manchester United team.
Not so any more.
The former West Ham and Tottenham midfielder made only his second competitive appearance this season against Valencia and was largely disappointing on his return from an Achilles injury.
Carrick has been hampered by a lack of form which had its beginnings towards the end of last season. Granted, the Valencia game was his first game back from injury but his performance will have done little to shake off the cobwebs of last season.
The problem for Carrick is that he has set himself such high standards and to perform to anything less than that is considered a failure.
Since joining from Tottenham in 2006, Carrick has been an integral part of United’s success. His first season at United was a revelation with Carrick bossing the midfield with his positional intelligence and excellent range of passing. He was inspirational in the Champions League against Roma where he put in a performance of real class, scoring two goals as United romped to a 7-1 victory.
In his first three seasons at the club, Carrick helped United to three successive Premier League crowns as well as a Champions League success in 2007.
Carrick’s strengths have been well-documented. He provides an excellent shield to the back four and does an unfussy job of intercepting and breaking up opposition play while passing the ball with accuracy and efficiency.
Despite all of his talents, he has a tendency to underperform in the big games. He saw the Champions League final against Barcelona pass him by as United’s midfield were overwhelmed by the Catalan’s mesmeric display of passing.
Since that night in Rome, Carrick has looked a shadow of his former self. He had a highly indifferent season last season when compared to his previous campaigns and fell way down the pecking-order at United.
In Carrick’s absence this season, Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher have featured regularly for Manchester United in the centre of midfield.
With the injuries that have been plaguing United’s midfield, Sir Alex Ferguson has chosen more often than not to play 4-4-2 this season in the Premier League which is a system that Carrick is not ideally suited to.
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Many teams who play Manchester United like to play 4-5-1 and crowd the midfield which doesn’t allow the United midfielders much time on the ball. This is not too much of a problem with a player like Scholes in the team who is able to pick out a killer pass in an instant.
A player like Carrick however thrives when he has time on the ball. Therefore, he is far better suited to playing in a 4-5-1 system where the extra midfielder will give Carrick more time to pick his pass.
As seen by his first two seasons at the club, Carrick is a player who thrives on confidence. He would benefit from an extended run in the team to rediscover some of the belief that made him such an important player for United.
He has shown that he can be a useful player. He just needs to believe it.
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