With Michael Carrick repeatedly missing out on the plaudits he deserves, from reds and non-reds alike, it’s time to see how one of our best players performed in 2011-2012.

vs Sunderland – one player attempted and completed more passes (Scholes – 98/103 or 95%). Completed 73/78 (94%)
vs Swansea – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 82/88 (93%)
vs City – attempted and completed more passes than any United player with 49/53 (93%). Barry (58/65 or 89%) and Toure (60/69 or 87%) attempted and completed more.
vs Everton – attempted and completed more passes than any United player with 58/73 (80%). Neville (65/72 or 90%) attempted and completed more.
vs Villa – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 65/74 (88%).
vs Wigan – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 62/67 (93%).
vs QPR – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 119/135 (88%).
vs Blackburn – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 92/100 (92%)
vs Fulham – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 96/104 (92%)
vs Wolves – subbed off after 58 minutes to give Paul Pogba a decent run. 49/56 (88%)
vs West Brom – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 88/96 (92%)
vs Tottenham – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 72/81 (89%)
vs Norwich – attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 88/101 (87%)
vs Liverpool – attempted and completed more passes 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 – subbed on in the 8th minute. 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.

Carrick played in 30/38 league games, started 27/38 and played for the full game 26/38. However, two of these appearances were in the centre of defence, so we’re looking at 24 games where he played in midfield.

Carrick attempted and completed more passes than any player on the pitch: 19/24
Carrick attempted and completed more passes than any United player on the pitch: 3/24
Carrick attempted and completed more passes than any opposition player on the pitch: 2/24
(Scholes vs Sunderland and Giggs vs Newcastle)

Conclusions
– Carrick’s pass completion over the course of the season was 90.1%. To put this in to perspective: Yaya Toure – 90.5%. Scott Parker – 89.5%. Luka Modric – 87.4%. David Silva – 87.1%. Juan Mata – 87%. Frank Lampard – 86.9%. Gareth Barry – 86.4%. Ramires – 85.1%. Raul Meireles – 84.5%. Jordan Henderson 83.9%. Steven Gerrard – 83.1%. Marouane Fellaini – 79.7%.

– Carrick’s number of touches per minute over the course of the season was 1.01. To put this in to perspective: Gerrard – 0.97 touches, Barry – 0.95 touches, Parker – 0.88 touches, Lampard – 0.85 touches and Hnederson – 0.77 touches.

– Carrick’s pass completion in the final third over the course of the season was 81%. To put this in to perspective: Parker – 79%, Barry 77%, Lampard and Gerrard – 75% and Henderson – 74%.

– Carrick’s key passes per game (as adjudged by the number of starts) was 1.04. To put this in to perspective: Gerrard – 2.25 key passes, Lampard – 1.92 key passes, Henderson – 1 key passes, Barry – 0.98 key passes, Parker – 0.75 key passes.

– Carrick’s tackles per game (as adjudged by the number of starts) was 3.3. To put this in to perspective: Parker – 3.8 tackles, Barry – 2.7 tackles, Gerrard – 2 tackles, Henderson – 1.7 tackles and Lampard – 1.6 tackles.

– Carrick’s interceptions per game (as adjudged by the number of starts) was 2.6. To put this in to perspective: Parker – 3.2 interceptions, Barry – 2.3 interceptions, Henderson – 1.7 interceptions, and Gerrard and Lampard – 1.4 interceptions.




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