We haven't got another midfielder that plays the obvious simple pass like he does
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Still easily our best CM. If he remains fit all season and is used intelligently, we're golden.
Great to have him back!
I'm glad to see him back, he can be important for us the remaining of the season...
When does he finish contract? Do you think he will continue in the club next season?
When does he finish contract? Do you think he will continue in the club next season?
I think he has too.
Hope he does... If fit hes valuable, and a new manager could find great use of him.. Great player..
Been saying it for sometime that I think this is his last year with us.Tweet
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He has the confidence to play the simple forward pass, it is not something van Gaal forbids. But it is easier to play the sideway or backpass to keep posession, while Carrick does it with his forward passing. Schneiderlin, Fellaini and even Schweini to an extent could do that too and should do that more regularly, but they are quite simply afraid.
Look at Carricks position in relation to Fellaini. He's drifted right over to that side of the pitch to affect play.
After Carrick takes his first touch, he's got 3 progressive passes in Martial, Mata and Blind(?) as well Rooney, yet he opts to play the more difficult one into Martial.
If that was Schneiderlin he would have been about 7-8 yards deeper and more central, pretty much standing in the centre circle. His likely passing options would have been forward to Rooney, sideways to Verela or back to Smalling. And knowing Schneiderlin, he'd have picked the easy one back to Smalling.
It's the right time, we kept Scholes on rather than finding a younger player who can pass it creatively but also cover the ground with mobility and not leave his CM partner doing too much, Carrick's at this point now IMO.
I can't see him playing for another club so may be he wants to retire because of the constant injuries.
I think he needs to be kept on in a coaching capacity.
To be able to hold the midfield the way he does and get the team playing is invaluable. He almost does the job of two players and I think he'd be a big help in us moulding the next Carrick, Busquets, Alonso etc.
To be able to hold the midfield the way he does and get the team playing is invaluable. He almost does the job of two players and I think he'd be a big help in us moulding the next Carrick, Busquets, Alonso etc.
He's getting old, but I'd probably rather he played on crutches than our current midfield. How can we spend like £100 million or some shizzle like that for it to get actively worse?
I thought Schneiderlin was much better on the ball at Southampton than what he has shown so far. He certainly wasn't getting by because Wanyama was some kind of a special play maker out there. It will be interesting how we move forward because Schweinsteiger is not a long term option even if he regains health and form and Herrera/Pereira are more attacking midfielders than deep lying play makers. I guess a lot would depend on the next manager but it still bothers me how Sir Alex never made a move for Modric when he was playing at Spurs.
I and a number of others would disagree.
Modric has also said that we tried to sign him.
LVG seems to hold him in high regard, I would have thought we would want him around regardless of playing
Not every players needs to remain at the club in a coaching role! It would be nice for a change to have a player just retire.
That wouldn't be a change, that would be the majority of players that retire.
I absolutely agree
Man Utd 3:0 Stoke
His passing range makes us a much more dangerous team. Replacing him should be number one priority.
See, you can play well next to Fellaini.
He's a difference maker
He's a difference maker
His passing is great but several times Stoke have just strolled through midfield with such a lack of mobility in there for us, I'd get Schneiderlin or Herrera on to add some legs alongside him.
He's been our worst player, skinned easily, slipped in midfield and a terrible header in our own box all put us in difficulty.
Wut? Defensively he is far from great, mostly because of physical battles but his passing makes a complete difference to this team. When on form still easily our best midfielder, at 35.
I was about to say that he is such a great player. The way he finds players with such ease is impressive. He has slipped a couple of times, but even world class Gerrard did that
Get him playing next to Schneiderlin instead of that player who is neither playing as midfielder or attacker, and Carrick will not have to try and hold a midfield on his own, again. Funny how people complained on how Carrick had to play in a midfield two under Ferguson. Now he has to play a midfield on his own.
This play we are seeing today is much to the effect of Carrick.
Welcome back Carrick!
I've got to admit, I'd probably go along with this, but everyone else has been great.
That said, no doubt we've looked a lot better today on the day he's come back in to the team. Maybe its a coincidence, maybe not.
Yes, I'd say he is easily most influential player to our play. Of course he can be bad, but when he's good he's good.
His positive passing at the start set the tone for the half I thought.
The whole team looks more confident knowing he's there to pass to
The whole team looks more confident knowing he's there to pass to
It's his first start after injury and I'm sure he'll get better but it's baffling how he can do no wrong with some people.
Give this man a five year contract. A 40 year old Carrick is probably the best possible replacement of the 30 year old Carrick.
Finding the elixir of life should be our top priority, it's slightly more realistic.
Such a calming presence.
How anyone can think he wasn't good to great tonight is beyond me.
We are miles better with him in the team.
Dire need of a replacement in the summer. Could have another Scholes situation on our hands.
I gave him a 6, definitely didn't think he was any better than that.
Good on the ball but the midfield was the one concern for me today, when we don't have the ball you can just run through it most of the time, no ground coverage or mobility in there.
I gave him my MOTM because I'm bored of giving it to Martial every week. I put the majority of credit from tonight's performance on his return.
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