Michael Ballard.:

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Michael Ballard.:

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Michael Ballard.:

What point are you trying to make? What am I missing here.

Ballard sir, my point is simple. Carrick was a key player for us and still is. He will continue to dictate Manchester United's games in his own style until a better player n his position comes along, and if that player comes, hes gonna be a gem of a player for sure.

He was a key player for us last season. But injuries to basically every other midfielder we have was a huge factor in that. You cant honestly believe Carrick would have played as frequently had Cleverly, Ando and Fletcher all been fit.

I really do believe that to be honest, the injuries are mere coincidences that masquerade the fact that Carrick would have still played most games compared to the other midfielders. Well, its in the past, let us see if that holds true this impending season.

Not saying he wouldn't have played. He would have played his share of games. But the way United came flying out of the gates with Ando and Cleverly starting in midfield they would have gotten the bulk of the playing time with Carrick being rotated into the lineup every now and again.

But i honestly believe the day will come when we get some real class in Carrick's position and people will then realise how average Carrick was.

I really dont think his performances deserve the credit his gets tbh ..

When we play a 442 system, BOTH centre midfielders have to influence the game, I really do not see how Carrick influences a vast majority of the games he plays.

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Michael Ballard.:

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Michael Ballard.:

What point are you trying to make? What am I missing here.

Ballard sir, my point is simple. Carrick was a key player for us and still is. He will continue to dictate Manchester United's games in his own style until a better player n his position comes along, and if that player comes, hes gonna be a gem of a player for sure.

He was a key player for us last season. But injuries to basically every other midfielder we have was a huge factor in that. You cant honestly believe Carrick would have played as frequently had Cleverly, Ando and Fletcher all been fit.

I really do believe that to be honest, the injuries are mere coincidences that masquerade the fact that Carrick would have still played most games compared to the other midfielders. Well, its in the past, let us see if that holds true this impending season.

Michael Ballard.:

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Michael Ballard.:

What point are you trying to make? What am I missing here.

Ballard sir, my point is simple. Carrick was a key player for us and still is. He will continue to dictate Manchester United's games in his own style until a better player n his position comes along, and if that player comes, hes gonna be a gem of a player for sure.

He was a key player for us last season. But injuries to basically every other midfielder we have was a huge factor in that. You cant honestly believe Carrick would have played as frequently had Cleverly, Ando and Fletcher all been fit.

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Michael Ballard.:

What point are you trying to make? What am I missing here.

Ballard sir, my point is simple. Carrick was a key player for us and still is. He will continue to dictate Manchester United's games in his own style until a better player n his position comes along, and if that player comes, hes gonna be a gem of a player for sure.

el diablo:

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Well you still cannot prove that Carrick was below the pecking order, how do you explain that he started the Champions League games?.

I can, and already have. Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City in the Prem are MUCH bigger games, and much more difficult, than Benfica and Basel. Carrick was below Ando, Carrick and Fletch in the pecking order at the start of the season, hence he was given the easier games along with Giggs and Park etc.

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

Well you still cannot prove that Carrick was below the pecking order, how do you explain that he started the Champions League games?.

Michael Ballard.:

What point are you trying to make? What am I missing here.

el diablo:

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

I must have touched a nerve for you to come up with a statement like that. I think everybody knows that the games Anderson and Cleverley played in are much smaller in comparison to the games Carrick played in with regards to the season as a whole. If Carrick was really down the pecking order, he would not have rotated the team at the start, picking Carrick for the CL games, he would have blanked out Carrick completely. Injuries were just a coincidence that Carrick's critics would use as a reason for his inclusion in the side. The fact is SAF maintained at all times that Carrick would peak at November and he started every game since then. And with regards to getting utterly dominated, ive yet to see a team play Barcelona and dominate them. The title of the thread is Trust Michael Carrick and Carrick has been and still is trusted by the man who matters most.

Touched a nerve? No, I'm just not letting you get away with saying that Carrick wasn't left out of any big games. And you can't counter it by saying that Carrick played in bigger matches later in the season, because Cleverley, Ando and Fletch weren't available for most of those matches, aside from Cleverley being available for the City game (and he wasn't picked for that partly due to the form of Scholes and Carrick, but mainly because SAF was adopting an anit-football approach).

Not even getting into the whole "Carrick can't play football until November" garbage.

jsmhe:

Ok I did said "Trust Michael Carrick" We need a Midfield. yes We do but it's not a priority and we can't spend About 25 mill or more for a midfield (Moutinho,Modric,Lucas) that we actually has good young midfield and Carrick is also One of the world class Defensive Midfield. I heard that we are interested in Eriksen and Eriksen also interested join us. And if Eriksen is 20 mill. I won't say no. Why Not. Good, Cheaper, Young, Talented. His playing style looks like will be suitable in EPL and Man Utd. Cleverley-Eriksen-Kagawa (Trio Midfield) and Carrick-Scoles (Duo Midfield)

Lets break it down. Our best central midfielder carrick, a good player but in his 30s and on the decline. Cleverley a promising kid but one is still unproven and only made a dozen appearances for the club in his career. Anderson, a guy on 50/60K a week who on average makes less than 15 league starts a season. Fletcher's career at this stage is probably over. Kagawa is more of a striker than central midfielder(rio is probably better suited to CM than him). Then we have scholes and giggs, guys would have retired long ago if it wasnt blatantly obvious that we would be screwed without them. After that you are looking at playing players out of position. This is a weak centre midfield compared to other top 4 premier league clubs, never mind compared to other european elites

Ruud van the man`s main fan:

I must have touched a nerve for you to come up with a statement like that. I think everybody knows that the games Anderson and Cleverley played in are much smaller in comparison to the games Carrick played in with regards to the season as a whole. If Carrick was really down the pecking order, he would not have rotated the team at the start, picking Carrick for the CL games, he would have blanked out Carrick completely. Injuries were just a coincidence that Carrick's critics would use as a reason for his inclusion in the side. The fact is SAF maintained at all times that Carrick would peak at November and he started every game since then. And with regards to getting utterly dominated, ive yet to see a team play Barcelona and dominate them. The title of the thread is Trust Michael Carrick and Carrick has been and still is trusted by the man who matters most.

Touched a nerve? No, I'm just not letting you get away with saying that Carrick wasn't left out of any big games. And you can't counter it by saying that Carrick played in bigger matches later in the season, because Cleverley, Ando and Fletch weren't available for most of those matches, aside from Cleverley being available for the City game (and he wasn't picked for that partly due to the form of Scholes and Carrick, but mainly because SAF was adopting an anit-football approach).

forevergiggs:

pele 10:

forevergiggs:

pele 10:

forevergiggs:

Sorry to burst your bubble but can you really say United of the past few seasons has been world class?? We were a world class team with the likes of Keane , Beckham ,Scholes, Giggs at their best Rooney, RVN...ETC....ETC. Carrick was influencial because he played further up the field and didn't have to worry about defensive duties too much. Now his main job is to break up play and i'm afraid to say he's not half the player he used to be. So for me, no, i don't trust Carrick.

How do you figure you have burst my bubble. My opinion is still the same as it was before you wrote your comment. Yes the current club is world class.

With a bit of luck on the injury front who knows what would have happened in all competitions last season? This club has been to 3 of the last 5 CL finals which is more then Barcelona or Real Madrid. How many PL titles over the past 5 years have United won? Uniteds records in other competitions has been pretty good as well.

The team is stocked with excellent young talent ready to blossom. What exactly do (Keane, Beckham and RVN) have to do with it. I think the present lot have enjoyed as much success as them.

I don´t agree with your comment about Carrick because he rarely played with the same group over a stretch of games so they never developed any chemistry which is one of the most important aspects of the performance of any successful team. So my opinion remains the same and United are only going to get better.

Every one has their own opinion which is to be respected but in my opinion we have played absolute *** the last two seasons, last year even Newcastle played better football than us. If we played with the same team of five years ago we would have won the league by 25 points.

I really am glad we played pathetic in the CL, it was the wake up call that we needed, if we got to the semis people would say it doesn't matter if we play *** but i'm sorry, for me it does. Yes we have reached 3 of the last 5 CLfinals, last year we hardly had the toughest of run ins too the final and Barca the last 2 finals really showed us were we are at. With all respect to the United players but Chelski should of beat us in our other final.

Don't think i like writing stuff like this but i'm being realistic, yes we have the potential to be great again with this present squad but we are still a few seasons off. To have a world class team you need world class players. I'd never ever say get rid of Rooney but he's hardly been at his best the last season or two and then Vidic, do we have any more world class talent? Do you want me to name the world class players that Barca or Madrid have? Didn't think so.

I'm a United supporter 35 years so i'm not a glory hunter, but i truly enjoyed watching us more 30 years ago, not winning anything, than winning things now playing cr.ap.Yes with the signing of Kagawa we will be a much better team and if we sign someone like Moutinho better still, but please people saying the last few seasons we have been playing fantastic, we have the best squad in the world, Carrick is one of the best midfielders in the world need to take off those old tainted specs.

Question for you, if we had Martinez, Strootman, Mvila, Moutinho, De Rossi, Xavi Alonso, Kehdira, Mascherano, Toure and Carrick in our team do you think Carrick would ever get a game, for me a big fat NO.

If what SAF said about Carrick being our main man in midfield this season then we are in serious trouble. Don't matter to me, i'll still be supporting them.

Last season was a one off and the sooner people realize that the easier it will be to accept the reasons we struggled last season. Teams playing absolute shite don´t win the PL title and make it to the final of the CL as United did in 2011.

Disregard last season if any of the big clubs would have had the problems United had with injuries, trying to settle in the likes of Jones, DeGea, Young and some others thay would have struggled just as we did.

We have been the second most successful club to Barca the past 5 years and in my opinion that won´t be changing anytime soon. Tell me more about how succesful Real Madrid have been the past 5 years, or Chelsea, or City, or Arsenal or Inter, or Lyon, or Porto, or Benfica, or Milan with all there world class players? World class teams win trphies. United have always built champions not bought them.

forevergiggs:

Question for you, if we had Martinez, Strootman, Mvila, Moutinho, De Rossi, Xavi Alonso, Kehdira, Mascherano, Toure and Carrick in our team do you think Carrick would ever get a game, for me a big fat NO

I don´t think we have room in the squad for all of them to start with. Out of your whole list who plays for a club that has accomplished more then United have with Carrick? Of course Carrick would get games people seriously underestimate his ability but that is just my opinion. I have been a supporter for a while to and I realize you can´t always play the football you would like.

Some people were complaining about the CL last season and the fact Chelsea beat Barca by parking the bus. Well guess what the bus wasn´t always parked because not only did Chelsea concede less, they scored 3 times. What would you prefer an ugly win or a brilliant loss?

I do agree with what you say about this team having immense potential it is just a matter of how fast they develop a chemistry and if they can stay healthy. See how much the team has developed since last season.

Wouldn't it be boring if everyone of us agreed in everything? lol. I'm not a pessimist that thinks it's all doom and gloom but for me the last 3 seasons we've been going backwards, we haven't replaced Ronaldo (i know he's almost irreplaceable) or Tevez and it is showing. Last year if Scholes didn't return IMO we would of lost the league by a lot bigger margin. That's all i'm trying to say.

Who's to know how the season would of finished if Anderson and Cleverley stayed fit, i know with Anderson it's almost impossible but the jury is still out on Cleverley. I really do think he's one for the future but he has to play consistently to prove he's United material.

When these two got injured in came Carrick as the main midfielder our play then became very scrappy, scrapping 1-0 wins and let's say at best playing average football. When Scholes returned we started playing a bit more adventurous football, for me Carrick is a good player but he is not the dominate midfielder that we need. IMO of course. Now him playing in a 3 man midfield might just work but not in a 2.

Yes we have won things the last few years without playing stunning football. I think we are still living off the Keane, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs era fame. But when Giggs and Scholes retires that era is officially dead. This year at last we are addressing the issue of CM so hopefully all the doubts that i have will be put to bed, we are certainly going the right way about it signing Kagawa and hopefully another quality CM.

Your question about an ugly win or brilliant loss. In the 99 final (yes that final) we were the much poorer team and should of lost, the same against Chelski, but our name is on the trophy and i guess that's all that counts. The reason i'm a United supporter was because we lost a final, can you believe it? It was the 79 final against Arsenal we played good football but were losing 2-0 with about 5 minutes to go, we came back to equalise but lost it in the last seconds. That excitement of coming back made me a United supporter,it was the never say die attitude that's still with us today although even that we are losing little by little, it's lucky i didn't start supporting the winning team,lol.

Here's to an injury free season, we live up to our potential and that we put $hity to sleep for another 44 years. GGMU

Cleverbeck.:

Michael Ballard.:

Cleverbeck.:

one of the best CMs in the last double decade at United.

Bet you cant say that with a straight face ;)

He genuinely is. One of the most vital cogs in the most successful machine (team) in Fergies time.