Michael Carrick: The proletariat leader of Old Trafford

Michael Carrick

Football is a game of the spectacular. From spectacular saves to spectacular passes to spectacular goals, everything is wooed by the crowd and fans. But, in a match, such moments are rare. What then happens during the rest of the match?

The answer is that other than spectacular moments, the matches are unspectacular. Unspectacular does not translate into boring or slow, but it just means that football is being played in a normal and controlled way.

Now there are players, who are more efficient than flashy, more consistent than brilliant and more reliable than mercurial. Such players often build the base for superstars to shine. In footballing terms we call them unsung heroes. The man who tops such a list for me is Michael Carrick.

The Manchester United and England midfielder has been an honest servant of Manchester United since his transfer in 2006. He rose to prominence in the 2009 season, but with a poor performance in the final, he was benched for much of next season.

But like a true Manchester United player, he did not give up. With Fletcher’s injury and Scholes’ advancing years, he got another chance to prove his mettle. And this time around, he did not disappoint. For the last two seasons he has been Manchester United’s most consistent player.

He prefers playing just in front of the defense and is one of the best distributors of the football. He is neither like Xavi who can find impossible angles, neither like Pirlo who can play like a quartista. He is a different breed of player.

He is perfect for Manchester United, with an average pass length of over 19 meters he has been crucial to supplementing United’s wingplay. He is adept at passing with both feet and a pass success rate of over 88% during a whole season is something to be taken seriously.

“Michael’s biggest quality is to move play from defence to attack and win the ball. Because of him, other players play better,” Martin Jol had said about his former ward.

His forte though is the defensive side of the game. With an average of 2.4 successful tackles per game, he lives up to his reputation of being a tough man to pass. Coupled with his statistic of 0.8 interceptions per game, he is undoubtedly the numero uno midfielder at Old Trafford.

But over and above the statistics, Carrick brings something else to the table. He brings an innate sense of calm to the team with the ball at his feet. A tough man to knock about, Carrick can play at centre back pretty efficiently too. And as a result he often takes a position in defense when of one of regular defenders goes up in attack.

Although he is capable of the spectacular, as his 70 yard through ball to put Rooney through against Chelsea showed, he prefers to play in the shadows. He does not crave for the limelight and is best doing what he does best, maintaining a flow on which the superstars build.

Having had to bear comparisons with Paul Scholes after he came in could not have been easy, but he never got intimidated. At Loftus Road against QPR, he put in a masterclass and the Mancunians sang this in his praise: “Hard to believe it’s not Scholes, it’s Carrick, you know.”

Consistency could be Carrick’s middle name for the way he plays. He is hardly ever poor in a match. He makes simple, elementary successful passes, tackles with gusto and covers for more flashy teammates. Being a Manchester United fan, I feel glad to have a man like Carrick on my team and wish him a heartfelt happy birthday..