Whilst he has often been on the receiving end of criticism since joining the club, Carrick insists all he’s bothered about is what Sir Alex Ferguson and his team mates think of him.

“Yeah, I’m happy with my form but I won’t be happy if we finish second in the league,” Carrick told the official site. “You have good spells and bad spells during the season and, overall, I’m happy with my form. But it’s not about individual recognition to me. All I care about is playing for this club and winning things. I want to be appreciated by my team-mates and the manager – anybody else’s opinion is irrelevant, to be honest. If I feel I’m playing well and winning things then that’s great. And if the manager thinks I’m playing well and selects me in the team that’s even better. Nothing else matters. To be honest, people’s opinions change so often. One week you’re the greatest player ever, the next week they want you sold. You can’t take too much notice of it.”

Conclusion
Michael Carrick has played 23 games this season. He has attempted and completed more passes than any other player on the pitch in 14 of these games (61%). However, if you discount the games when he played as a central defender (2), the games where he did played 90 minutes as he was subbed on or off (4), that means out of the 17 games when he played the entire game in the centre of midfield, he attempted and completed more passes than any player on the pitch in 14 of them (78%).

In 2 of those games, he completed more passes, even though he didn’t attempt as many, meaning he completed more passes than any other player on the pitch in 16 of the 17 games where he played 90 minutes in midfield (89%).

In 1 of those games, only one player completed more passes, which was Faurlin of QPR. This means in 18 of the 18 games where he played 90 minutes in midfield, he attempted and completed more passes than any other United player and in 17 out of the 18 games he completed more passes than any player on the pitch.

Seven of United’s remaining ten games are against bottom half of the table opposition, starting with second from bottom Wolves at the weekend. They’ve lost nine of the fourteen games they’ve played at home this season but Michael Carrick says we can’t take any game for granted.

“There is no hiding the fact that it is nice to be top of the league,” said Carrick. “This is a big week for us but I think we’ll be saying that for the rest of the season. “Wolves has been a tough place to go over the last few years. It has been hard for us down there, so we are not taking anything for granted. We are top of the league at the moment but we still have to pick up enough points between now and the end.”

Liverpool then became so bad they couldn’t even get in to the Europa League anymore, making the chant fairly redundant.

However, our fans had reason to sing it again after United failed to make it out of the Champions League group this season. In the following game we put four past Wolves and after every goal the Stretford End sang the song, taking the piss out of ourselves.

Unsurprisingly, other fans have used our own chant with a stick to beat us with, but the more amusing occasions are when its fans of clubs who have never seen their team play in Europe.

Carrick says he understands that rival fans will take the piss but that doesn’t put the players off wanting to win it.

“The reaction is understandable,” said Carrick. “But we are professionals and we are in this tournament, playing for this great club. It doesn’t take much motivation from the players’ point of view. It is a competition we want to win. We are still desperate to go as far as we would do in the Champions League.”

vs Liverpool – attempted and completed more than any other player with 92/98 (94%)
vs Chelsea – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 66/76 (87%)
vs Stoke – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 129/139 (93%)
vs Arsenal – completed more passes than any other player with 51/56 (91%). Song attempted 56 and completed 47 (84%).
vs Bolton – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 59/66 (89%)
vs Newcastle – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 69/80 (86%)
vs Blackburn – played as a central defender because of injuries. Completed 34/38 passes (90%).
vs Wigan – played as a central defender because of injuries. Completed 39/40 passes (98%).
vs Fulham – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 67/74 (91%)
vs QPR – one player attempted and completed more passes (Faurlin – 52/71 or 73%). Completed 49/58 (85%).
vs Wolves – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 66/73 (90%)
vs Villa – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 55/62 (89%)
vs Newcastle – one player attempted and completed more passes (Giggs – 52/64 or 81%). Completed 45/54 (83%).
vs Swansea – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 92/96 (96%)
vs Sunderland – subbed on in the 83rd minute. Completed 4/4 passes (100%).
vs Everton – injured. Not in matchday squad.
vs City – injured. Not in matchday squad.
vs Liverpool – Not fully fit. Unused sub.
vs Norwich – Not full fit. Unused sub.
vs Stoke – injured. Not in matchday squad.
vs Chelsea – subbed on in the 63rd minute. Completed 19/21 passes (91%)
vs Bolton – Anderson, Rio and Reo-Coker attempted and completed more passes. Completed 46/51 (90%)
vs Arsenal – injured. Not in matchday squad.
vs Tottenham – Not fully fit. Unused sub.
vs West Brom – Not fully fit. Unused sub.

Average passing completion: 90.35%

Further Carrick stats from Doron Salomon:

- most interceptions (49)
- averages more interceptions per game than any other United player (3.06)
- makes an interception more frequently than any other United player (every 27.8 minutes)
- made more clearances than any other United player (35) – excludes defenders*
- averages more clearances per game than any other United player (2.18) – excludes defenders*
- makes a clearance more frequently than any other United player (every 39 minutes) – excludes defenders*
- only Jonny Evans has made more blocks than Carrick (19 for Evans, 10 for Carrick)
- only Jonny Evans makes more interceptions per game than Carrick (1.1 for Evans, 0.63 for Carrick)
- only Jonny Evans makes a block more frequently than Carrick (every 76 minutes for Evans, every 136.5 minutes for Carrick)
- Carrick averages more passes per game than any other United player (61.9 per game)

*having played CB impacts that

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Pride of all Europe – Is Carrick United’s best player this season?

“We were slightly disappointed in the end,” said Carrick. “Obviously, when you’re 3-0 down and have your backs against the wall, if someone offers you a point then you’ll be happy with that but getting a third goal with a fair bit of the game to go, we fancied ourselves to go on and win it. We probably looked like the likelier team to do it. They had a good free-kick but it’s a strange feeling in many ways, it was an up and down afternoon and in the end, a point is a point and we can take an awful lot from that game. We played well in the first half and created some opportunities. Even when we were 1-0 down at half-time we were a bit stunned and surprised but that’s how it was and we had to deal with it.”

Scholes scored a big goal for United, putting us 1-0 up just before half-time, although Carrick believes our legendary midfielder has as much to offer away from the pitch as well as on it.

“It was great to see him score and it’s great to have him back for the quality that he brings, not just on the pitch, but from the way he carries himself around the place and for his attitude towards the game,” Carrick told MUTV. “It’s great for the younger players who have come in this season; they can train with him and learn a lot from him just as we have in the past. He’s such a world class player and I’ve learnt so much off him, as well as other players. Being in my position, I’ve watched him a lot and learnt off him and tried to add his attributes to my game. It’s great to have him back and it’s given everyone a lift. I’m sure he’s delighted to come back, the reception he got from the fans was fantastic and I’m sure he’ll look back on it as a special day.”

“He’s grabbed the nettle, there’s no question about that,” said Ferguson. “In some ways, he’s maybe seen the departure of Paul Scholes as his opportunity to be the main man in midfield. I think it’s time Michael became the pivotal player of our team. We’ve always known he’s got that in him. He’s a laid-back character – quiet and unassuming – but in different periods during his time here he’s shown his quality. Now is the time for him to start a long period of dominating the centre of midfield like he has in the last few weeks. Michael’s been one of our best players. He’s been instrumental in what’s happening to the team at the moment. His performances have been quite outstanding.”

Michael Carrick has claimed that he is happy with our current position and reckons we’ll be even better off come the new year.

“City have set the standard and not dropped many points but there’s a cluster of clubs behind them which we’re heading up, so we’re quite happy with the way things have gone,” said Carrick. “Of course we’d prefer to be on top but we’re actually in a better position than last season and, hopefully, we’ll be even closer to them come the end of the year.”

Compared with last year
After 15 games, United were on 31 points last season with a goal difference of 19. We were top of the table, 2 points clear of Arsenal and Chelsea, and 5 points clear of City.

After 15 games this season, United are on 36 points with a goal difference of 21.