The thing with people worrying when he tries to play out of his own box, yes he may lose the ball close to our goal but that’s something Carrick and the staff will have evaluated and decided the risk is worth taking. I love watching players receive the ball in tight spaces and waiting for angles, and then playing out into open space and launching an attack. We’re very good at it for the most part. In fact I think if we’d scored in the first half hour, when we were totally dominant, we’d have absolutely mullered them 3 or 4-0.
Going back to Hackney, it’s easy to remember the time(s) he lost the ball and it led to something, or came close to, but that’s because it’s our last involvement before an opposition chance or moment of danger. It’s very easy to forget the times he’ll have done that exact same thing and it’s got us out into midfield and then up and into a threatening position ourselves.
I’d much rather we were doing this and losing it 1 in every 10 times than just smashing it long towards a big lump in the other half of the pitch. Hackney is a playmaker and he’s great at it. 20 years old. You love to see it.