Michael Carrick - the footballer

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DanBoro4499

Well-known member
From my knowledge:

- Very highly rated youngster at west ham (possibly a bit overshadowed by Joe Cole)
- Really started to make his mark once he joined spurs
- Exceptional for Man U

Whenever i watched him play for Man U he absolutely oozed class, didn't ever look like he needed to get out of 3rd gear. Tremendous passer and really intelligent player.

I've read some great players speak extremely highly of him, but is he still underrated in general?

Should he have a lot more caps for england if it wasn't for managers trying to shoehorn gerrard and lampard into the same midfield?
 
Pick up a copy of his autobiography.. a really good insight into his character. Left home at 15 to move to London to chase his dream. Turned down Newcastle at 15 as he knew the pathway to the top was clearer at West Ham, even though he was a Newcastle fan. Switched on and level headed.
 
CarrickBall said:
Pick up a copy of his autobiography.. a really good insight into his character. Left home at 15 to move to London to chase his dream. Turned down Newcastle at 15 as he knew the pathway to the top was clearer at West Ham, even though he was a Newcastle fan. Switched on and level headed.
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I remember the season WHU went down and he came to the Riverside (IIRC). I didn't appreciate his talent until that game, he glided through it and was the best player on the pitch. cant remember how old he was, but you could see what a classy player he was.
 
DanBoro4499 said:
From my knowledge:

- Very highly rated youngster at west ham (possibly a bit overshadowed by Joe Cole)
- Really started to make his mark once he joined spurs
- Exceptional for Man U

Whenever i watched him play for Man U he absolutely oozed class, didn't ever look like he needed to get out of 3rd gear. Tremendous passer and really intelligent player.

I've read some great players speak extremely highly of him, but is he still underrated in general?

Should he have a lot more caps for england if it wasn't for managers trying to shoehorn gerrard and lampard into the same midfield?
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Yeah lot of competition for places in that midfield at the time.

Possibly underrated by a few because a lot of armchair fans only judge players on how many goals they score, how many crunching tackles they fly into, how many step overs and mazy dribbles they make.

He didn't really do any of that, but yet probably had a bigger impact and more control on a midfield than most players who did. One of those who just made the game look very very easy, sometimes it's easy to take those players for granted.
 
He was an excellent passer of the ball and should indeed have played more for England. If he was Spanish he'd have been the sort of player guaranteed a place for his ability to sit and spray the ball around. My only criticism was i often thought whilst his game was all about dictating play, and sitting without charging around, he sometimes dipped below that intensity level really required to be at the very top.
 
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I’m reading his autobiography at the minute and just read that he was on the verge of signing for Arsenal in the summer of 2004.

He had just been beaten in the championship play-off final and was so close to joining the Wenger’s Invincibles but for a 17 year old Cesc Fabregas making his debut in the community shield. Carrick got a phone call the next day saying Wenger wanted to pursue with Fabregas instead.

It’s interesting reading bits about his time in the youth teams at West Ham and the people he looked up to and how they gave him a chance, but he had to work hard to get them. He complains a lot about the current young players being given things way too easily.
 
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