Michael Carrick has started just 13 games for United in the league this season, despite the lengthy injuries to Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves. Following a decent debut season, he has played rather poorly so far this season, the lowest point coming against Birmingham on New Year’s Day. He was truly woeful, resembling something close to Darren Fletcher in the 05-06 season. He couldn’t pass, he ducked out of tackles, he lost the ball in stupid places, and generally everything he touched turned to shit.
However, throughout this period of poor form, it seems as though he is suffering from verbal diarrhoea, talking to any journalist who will listen. It started in the pre-season and has gone on every few weeks since then.
June 28th 2007 – I’ve got a big challenge
“I want to stay here and achieve things here,” Carrick told Inside United. “This is the pinnacle of the game. They say the easy part is getting there and the hardest part’s staying there, so I’ve got a big challenge ahead.”
August 6th 2007 – Great times ahead
Less than three weeks later, “We have a fantastic squad with a lot of options in attacking areas,” said Carrick. “If we can have a solid base and defend really well, we will always create chances and score a lot of goals. Hopefully, great times lie ahead for us.”
September 24th 2007 – Hails the defence
“Five clean sheets on the trot is a great achievement,” said Carrick after the 2-0 victory over Chelsea. “I know we play good football with plenty of flair but a lot of our game is based on how we defend.”
September 27th 2007 – On England and injuries
“It’s typical England really – everything seems to be running smoothly and then something comes up. The quality in the squad is there and the competition is there, so if anyone is unfortunate enough to get injured or suspended, people can step in and do just as good a job.”
November 14th 2007 – Play for my team, Berba
“He’s a very good player. I’ve watched him quite a bit because he’s playing for my old club and I try and watch them whenever I can. We would welcome any world-class players who can strengthen the squad and Berbatov certainly would do that.”
November 29th 2007 – Hard work still to come
“A 100 per cent record is something to be proud of,” he said of United’s Champions League campaign. “We set out to top the group and have managed to achieve that but the hard work really starts in the spring. Obviously, we will now have to wait and see how the draw goes but we realise the biggest tests are still to come and we will need to be at our best when the competition starts again after Christmas.”
December 12th 2007 – Winning is a good habit
“Winning all six matches would be some achievement,” Carrick said, again talking about the Champions League. “It would send out a statement saying we are a very good team with confidence and self belief. Winning is a good habit to be in. The longer we keep our momentum going the better.”
December 14th 2007 – Liverpool clashes mean a lot
“As players, Liverpool is always a special game for us, especially at Anfield,” Carrick said. “The difference this year is that Liverpool are going for the title too, which makes it even bigger. There’s no doubt you can feel the intensity surrounding this fixture. You can feel it around the town. It just seems to get bigger and bigger every time.” ‘Always’ being the one game he’d previously played at Anfield for United? Has it got ‘bigger and bigger’ since the first and last time Carrick had played in this fixture, just nine months before?
December 28th 2007 – Getting better and better
“It feels like we are getting better and better,” said Carrick the day before we lost to West Ham. “We look really strong at the moment and five league wins in a row is good form. Things are going well and we have to keep this momentum going. We are in the position we want to be in at this time of year.”
Today, we have the latest instalment of our bit part player’s opinion, with Carrick claiming he thinks we can stay top of the league for the rest of the season. “Before we played Newcastle we knew Arsenal had drawn and that if we won we would go top,” Carrick said. “It is nice now to be sitting on top of the pile. Hopefully we can stay there, but that’s up to us. That’s the hard part. We managed to do it last season and hopefully we can do it again. I am sure we will if we keep playing like that. We want to get the momentum again and hopefully stay there for the rest of the season.”
I am not by nature a Carrick basher. He’s getting increasing stick from the United faithful this season, mounting on the whispers that were forming last season following his whopping £18.6 million price tag. However, his comments are boring and riddled with cliches, so I can’t help but think Carrick should button it. We’ve heard more from him than any other player, which is pretty rich considering he has contributed less than most to our season so far.
Michael Carrick, the man who says a lot, whilst saying nothing at all!
Man Utd News 24/7
I’m not a big fan of players talking to the press, leave that to the braggarts at chelsea arsenal and media pool.
Save the talking till the trophies are won Carrick
A lot of his talk comes in post-match interviews or to manutg.com / mutv, I wouldn’t really say that’s going as far as talking to The Sun. This blog did make me laugh, but I have to say, Carrik doesn’t talk more than say, Rio Ferdinand. Players like the two mentioned are only ever answering the repetitive questions that come at them from all angles, after a game there’ll be Sky, BBC and MUTV there all asking the same selection of players the same selection of questoins, so I don’t blae th
A lot of his talk comes in post-match interviews or to manutg.com / mutv, I wouldn’t really say that’s going as far as talking to The Sun. This blog did make me laugh, but I have to say, Carrik doesn’t talk more than say, Rio Ferdinand. Players like the two mentioned are only ever answering the repetitive questions that come at them from all angles, after a game there’ll be Sky, BBC and MUTV there all asking the same selection of players the same selection of questoins, so I don’t blame them for the boring talk.
Carrick had a very good season for us last year and has yet to get back into the team following so many chops and changes in the squad, obviously he should be able to do such a thing but I for one will give him time. He has only managed 2 eye catching performances this season against Managerless clubs, Newcastle and Chelsea but if he doesn’t show up between now and the seasons end I may lose patience.
Agree with Tom F: after every bloody game, journalists ask the players the same stuff. “Do you think United are strong, Michael?” “Michael, what do you think about keeping another clean sheet, is it important?” What should he do?
And lest we forget I must say he was instrumental in last season’s title victory. His arrival brought stability to the midfield that allowed the Ginger Ninja to flourish. Most players say dull things and have bad periods but that is not a reason to turn against them. I trust Carrick.
just a question. was carrick 18.6 million pounds or euros?
Tom F – Rio, who plays more games than any other player and a strong candidate for captaincy, doesn’t irk me so much when talking to the press.
Carrick’s cliche crap comments about the Liverpool game were in The Sun.
Taehr – £18.6 million, yup.
according to the Official Yearbook, United paid 14 million pounds for him.
Carrick’s been woefully ot of form, that’s undisputed. But there was also a period where he was injured – making him easier press fodder. Plus, if the questoins asked aren’t particularly intelligent, we’re not going to get interesting answers either (and what else can he say? No sir, I expect United to lose?)
I’ll just take the press interviews he’s been giving with a pinch of salt. Fergie will know what to do with Carrick if he does underperform consistently anyway.
i think carrick is a very good player.. considering without him we might not have gotten to the semi-finals, carrick unlike ronaldo (whom is a wonderful player of course), shows up in the “BIG” games. When he gets a good run of games, he plays really well. He is the unsung hero when he plays well. You dont have to score goals or make winning tackles to be seen as quality. Carrick will peak late. Watch out for him. Make an effort to notice him in games, and not only jumping up when ronaldo, rooney or tevez gets the ball.
Emjay (Man utd’s greatest fan)
Carrick was £14 million, rising to around £18 million based on honours and performances at the club.(I believe)
Yes Carrick definately hasn’t reached the form of last season, he did leave it until the second half of last season to “turn it on” so hopefully he can get a run going. Though I would still like to see Hargreaves come into the squad and go on a decent run.
As for post-match interviews, a prime example of preying on controversy is Geoff Shreeves, the way he doesn’t give in despite being pretty much refused an answer was once again displayed for poor Rafa Benitez last night, I hate Liverpool but the way that interview was done, like the one with Ronaldo after the ‘Boro game last season, is just out of order. Yes, Players get paid loads and have to show responsibilty and interviewers also have a job to do, but the game is focussing so much on ‘sinister’ points in football that it becomes less fun and more disturbing to watch!
he wants to keep the first team jersey through ma king a lot of noisy
I agree with you here. Someone who also annyoys me is Hargreaves. Always injured and when he’s played the last couple of games he’s been quite sluggish on the ball.
“Do your talking on the pitch” should be every player’s motto. When they’ve done their talking on the pitch they could, if really necessary, talk to media.
Sir Alex Ferguson knows better, so if Michael Carrick had done or said something wrong, SAF would definitely have intervened. Let’s not put any more pressure to Carrick. We need him because this will be a long season.
Quit moaning about Carrick, he was instrumental in United winning the league last season, he is a good player worthy of wearing the shirt. You are forgeting that he missed six week before Christmas with a fractured elbow, this along with increased competition in midfield explains why he has only started 13 games this season. I don’t see the point in this article, getting on Carrick’s back for the sake of it will just alienate him from the fans, we need to be behind the team 100% now that we have a squad good enough to emulate the team of 99.
“I am not by nature a Carrick basher.” LOL!!
Who gves a sh*t about comments in the press? Seriously?
If you don’t want to hear the same old banal cliches from footballers being asked the same old banal questions, then you probably shouldn’t read the interviews, never mind start an exhaustive trawl through them, copying and pasting the most annoying quotes!
Personally, I’ll judge players by their efforts on the pitch. Carrick was sluggish in the first few game coming back from injury and he was woeful against Brum. But did it occur to you that he’d picked up the same dose which stopped Rooney even getting on the bench (and kept him out of 70 minutes of the next game too)
Carrick was solid against Villa and our best player on the pitch against Newcastle (on a day where a LOT of players had blinders) How’s about your get off his back and see if he can kick on from here and regain the form that played a huge part in winning our trophy back?
As for the fee. It was 14 m, not 18.6. The additional 4m or so will only be paid if/when we win a shed-load of trophies. Which would make it money well-spent. For that price, for a young English player, Carrick is a bargain. If you don’t believe that, check out how much Spuds paid for Darren Bent!
I always read your blog with interest and agree with almost all of your opinions but your anti-Carrick agenda makes you seem a lot less clued in than you actually are. Did you even watch the game against the barcodes?
Damn it Mick!! I wanted to say the same damn thing.. Ya I second that(whatever Mick said) word for word..
and Scott is not a Carrick basher by nature…awww.. All I’ve read in this blog in the last few weeks has been Carrick bashing.
Saha’s woefully out of form but he’ll be back according to Scott… but Carrick’s days are numbered. Contrast, anyone??
Its all very nice and pleasing to see a new player like Anderson come along and start the “New sensation” shite, but very different to stick to your old players who are out of form(at the moment) and will be back.. No one seems to notice Carrick’s contribution against Newcastle..
Damn Mick, you took the words right out of my mouth. Couldn’t have said it better myself. My thoughts exactly.
Any more cliches I can throw out there? I’m sure Carrick would approve.
Mick , this is Rick here , at last a true red who supports Carrick . Carrick may not be as talented as Anderson Scholes Hargo etc. Carrick definitely is weak defensively and offensively when compared to Anderson , however one must remember his main strength , His Passing Range. Plz compare Carrick to the likes alonso , mikel and Gilberto .. Any day any manager would pick carrick ahead of the 3 .. He has comeback from injury and started performing lately . If he regains top form i would say we will be even more deadly as we will have 3 strikers upfront who just want the ball to be sprayed to them …
Many red devils speculate on how ronaldo took the penalty instead of allowing tevez to get a hat trick (The next match he scored the penalty in the last minutes against everton) , how ronaldo does not participate in goal celebrations , I would say ‘Get a Life’ … These guys are professionals and they enjoy playing with one another , we all know how Fergie will react if any player throws a tantrum …
just to set the record straight, Mick copied my opinions, I wrote them first.. haha.. ;O)
It’s good to see a load of Carrick fans on the same blog. Anyway, don’t all turn into Scott bashers now, 99% of these blogs are great to read and participate in.
Now… fot the title>>>>