Carrick-less Manchester United exorcise creative demons

When it was announced earlier this week that David Moyes would be without the talents of an injured Michael Carrick this weekend and possibly longer, the immediate reaction for Red Devils fans will undoubtedly have been one of dismay.

For the last year or more, the England international has been one of the club’s most consistent performers, attempting almost twice as many passes as any other United player in the 2012/13 campaign.

In hindsight, however, the void vacated by Carrick will be seen as more of an opportunity than a hindrance. This is after the reigning Premier League champions bulldozed their way to a 3-1 win at Craven Cottage, the first time since the season opener at Swansea that they’ve managed to score three goals away from home this term.

Having not missed a minute of his club’s league campaign until this weekend’s trip to West London, one way to look at Manchester United’s midfield anchor is that of a consistent presence, something they need. The other is to suggest that area of the pitch may have stagnated of late, a common occurrence with even the best of players and line-ups alike.

With Marouane Fellaini also unavailable with injury, it was a central duo of Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones that took to the Fulham stage, the outcome being a promising one for those intrigued by the younger talent coming through at Old Trafford.

Not since last season’s 1-0 loss against Chelsea has this particular pair linked up for a Premier League outing in midfield, and it was a fixture that Cleverley in particular thrived upon, completing 34 of his 35 attempted passes.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s important that we establish the gulf in engine room talent between the two involved sides. After all, while the likes of Steve Sidwell and Scott Parker have assuredly had their moments this season, by no means are the English pair the most difficult anchor task that United will face.

A growing notion these days is that players, central midfielders in particular, are required to be versatile creatures, the term ‘defensive midfielder’ slowly becoming one of diminishing. While by no means a defensively minded middleman, a lack of such options at United has seen Carrick take on this anchoring role at the club in 2013, emphasised by his 81% tackle success rate so far this term

Jones proved that there is still room for the specialists with his performance at Craven Cottage , despite all this talk of rounded Jacks-of-all-trades. If audiences thought that Cleverley was allowed to express himself creatively when deployed alongside Carrick, Saturday’s outing will have been a further breath of fresh air.

Jones’ attributes as a natural centre-back continued to lend themselves well to the 21-year-old when played further forward, the youngster winning three of his five attempted tackles, just under a third of the amount Carrick has attempted in nine matches.

It’s all well and good positioning a player in a certain area of the pitch with a certain list of priorities heading into the encounter, but when there’s a younger, more suitable asset in United’s midst, it’s possible Jones may fit the bill of what’s needed.

As Juan Mata, Shinji Kagawa and Jack Wilshere are now finding out, football isn’t always about fielding the best 11 players in one’s squad at the same time, but moulding a team that will benefit one another in kind to make for the most fruitful of squad productions.

As a result of Jones’ activity across the halfway line, the likes of Adnan Januzaj, Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney were all relieved of some tracking duties, able to rely on a staunch figure in the middle of the park.

That’s not to say one performance from the former Blackburn man will see Carrick’s time in the team done; nothing could be further from the truth. It wouldn’t be absurd to suggest that Carrick is capable of dropping to the bench, though, in what could be a profitable shake up for the team.