OK ManU GAF you have got to help the rest of us out here.
Carrick really hasnt impressed most neutrals as far as I can see. Barry has been the superior player this whole season even though both of them play in a non flashy position Barry has caught the eye occasionally and when you watch City play he is there, doing the hard work.
This really seems like a case of a player club fans love, but the rest of us just dont see whats so special. Add on top of that his apparent dick response to an England call up really doesnt endear him.
Help me understand United GAF. What am I missing? Why would Hodgson pick Carrick instead of say the slightly younger Britton as a back up?
Firstly, it's worth noting that for the past 2 years, Carrick's biggest critics have been from within OT itself. There were notable groans and moans every time he dallied on the ball and shifted it sideways. You don't often hear dissent from the stands in OT, but I was at a fair few games where Carrick was really getting stick from fans. This season, it's been the total opposite. For many fans he was the alternative choice for player of the season, because Carrick isn't a flashy player who makes lunging tackles, surging runs or bangs them in from distance, he's under-stated...but everybody who has followed United will have noticed his impact on the side.
It's hard to really say why he's been so good...you just have to watch and see how important he was...and I'm not a massive fan of statistics in football, but here they seem useful.
- Carrick made an average of 73.1 passes per game this season, that was higher than any other English player in the league, and the 3rd highest of any player in the entire league. (Parker and Barry both in low 60's, in teams with much better midfields.)
- Carrick had a 90% pass completion accuracy this season (again better than Barry or Parker)
- Carrick was dispossessed far less than Parker or Barry, 4x less than Parker and 2x less than Barry.
- He averaged more tackles/interceptions per game than Gareth Barry, and only slightly less than Parker, when you consider Parker's hustle and bustle style that isn't surprising either.
- Also to debunk the he just passes sideways myth, Opta stats show 60% of his passes were forwards, with an average of 6.1 accurate long balls per game.
They're just stats at the end of the day and you can manipulate them, but he clearly a MUCH better passer than the two who play in his position and has shown he is defensively just as competent. That's before you even compare him to Gerrard or Henderson who have been nothing better than average, can't be bothered to dig their stats out but I am in no doubt he betters them in all the departments mentioned above too. So he passes it better than the others vying for his spot, loses the ball less, and tackles just as effectively...sounds pretty good for a DM...and then when you consider England's major problem for the last decade has been not being able to keep the ball...well...it doesn't seem like a bad idea.
I don't really mind whether people rate him or not, he's been great for us and I'm happy with that...but I won't be surprised if by the end of next season if he keeps his form up people are noticing him once again. Often works like that in football, the people who watch players more often naturally notice trends earlier. United fans were ripping into him when he had his bad spell whilst others still considered him a good player. Similar has happened with Evra this season when people outside United have noticed he's been shit, when he was just as poor last season, if not worse actually.
He really has had a great season. Saw another stat that in something like 50% of the games he played this season he attempted and completed more passes than any other player on the pitch...can't remember where I saw it now, will try and track it down later. That's seriously impressive.
