Michael Carrick: What have I done to deserve this? …
In all the excitement generated by Sir Alex’s excellent summer, is under-threat midfielder Michael Carrick justified in asking : “What have I done to deserve this?”
Carrick is facing up to losing his place at the heart of the United team, when the England midfielder’s first year reviews might have earned him the right to be considered an automatic starter.
“The manager has not said anything to us yet about the way he intends to use us all,” Carrick revealed. “It doesn’t really matter anyway. Regardless of who has signed this summer, you have to be at your best to play for United.
“There is a lot of class in our midfield and we are only going to get better.The more world-class players we have the more it will benefit us. There will be times when you are out of the side. But when you are in, you will have to play well.”
The self-effacing England midfielder was a regular in his debut season at United, missing only five Premier League games as United stormed to the Premiership title, a Wembley FA Cup final and a Champions League semi-final.
Not bad for a first year, the 25 year old might have believed. Not good enough for his astonishingly restless manager!
With the season barely over, Sir Alex completed deals to bring in England defensive midfielder Owen Hargreaves and the Brazilian Anderson, tipped to be a world star within two years.
The signings encouraged talk of a new era of United dominance, with the last campaign’s achievements reduced to sepia-coloured souvenirs.
Carrick has disappeared in the tumult surrounding the club’s unprecedented boldness in the transfer market. His contribution to United’s triumphs was trampled underfoot by the media stampede to hail Owen Hargreaves and Anderson as the new face of Sir Alex’s midfield. Headline writers and sports hacks lavished praise on the new recruits and the manager. Barely a word was written in support of Carrick, or in defence of his role as a skilled midfield schemer. Such a prospect would be unthinkable at most other clubs. United however, are unlike most other clubs! Has an £18 million signing ever been forgotten so quickly?
Hargreaves in particular, has been welcomed as the man who will carry United to Champions League glory in Moscow next May. And with Sir Alex ready to lock horns with West Ham and the Premier league over the right to buy Carlos Tevez, Carrick’s hold on a United first team position appears ever more fragile.
Many observers predicted that Hargreaves’ long anticipated arrival would encourage United towards the adoption of a 4-3-3 or 4-2-1-3 formation next season. Such a line-up, it was believed, would give the team the midfield strength and cunning to do battle on equal terms with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Milan.
Tevez’s likely arrival has thrown such tactical supposition into disarray. The manager could continue with the tried and tested 4-4-2 set-up with Rooney and Tevez up front and a midfield of Scholes and Hargreaves. It is suggested that the veteran Scholes will play fewer games this year, so as to extend his career with Carrick stepping in for the midfield supremo when he is rested.
Carrick, for all his skills, is still burdened by the charge that he rarely hurts the opposition. He brings fluidity, cohesion and purpose to United’s play but is vulnerable to the more obvious qualities of his midfield rivals. He is not as dynamic as Hargreaves and hasn’t the range and goal threat of Scholes.
Sir Alex will surely begin the Premiership season with those who won the trophy last year but his side will be a work in progress, with Carrick facing the toughest battle of his career.
“I want to stay here and achieve things here,” he said last month. “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.”
READ: The Carrick Dossier
