Thread: Michael Carrick
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Old 07-10-2009, 10:13 AM   #10
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Default Re: Michael Carrick

Quarterback Michael Carrick set to answer Fabio Capello's England call

In June he appeared to be in Fabio Capello’s bad books and by August, even Sir Alex Ferguson seemed less than enamored with Michael Carrick.

Asked why he had been omitted for the opening game of the new Barclays Premier League season, Manchester United’s manager suggested the reporter should ask his £18.5million signing.

Carrick has had a testing few months. A chastening encounter with that brilliant Barcelona midfield in the Champions League Final has been followed by more time on the United bench than he would have envisaged after three consecutive Premier League titles and a night when he actually got his hands on the European Cup.



The Italian coach is determined to build an England team, indeed a squad, that can adapt to the different demands of a major tournament; one that can cope with the contrasting challenges that arise when you meet the likes of Italy, Germany, Spain or Brazil.

So it is up to Carrick to show he can do such a job, against Ukraine or Belarus, and perhaps even the Brazil side England will meet in a friendly in Qatar next month.

But he had fallen out of favour, even annoying Capello by failing to inform the England camp of a toe injury he was said to have suffered in Rome, which then ruled him out of the two World Cup qualifiers that concluded the season.

Since then, however, the attitude towards Carrick has softened. With Capello anyway.

It turns out Carrick was not fit for the Champions League Final; that the toe injury was something that became a closely-guarded secret in the build up to the game.

Ferguson did not want Barcelona to know a key member of his side needed an injection just to get through the match, although it must have been pretty obvious to Messrs Xavi and Iniesta that something was up.

It was probably why news failed to filter through to the FA that Carrick had a problem for Kazakhstan and Andorra until the Sunday after the clash in Rome.

It was old news at United, and something no one had then remembered to communicate to England amid the bitter disappointment of performing so poorly against the mighty Spaniards.
Carrick

Plan B: Carrick's Xabi Alonso-esque passing has made him an important member of the England squad

The situation at United remains a curious one. Carrick was terrific against Wolfsburg last week but Ferguson’s response was surprisingly cool.

Ferguson put Carrick’s early season absence down to the fact that he was ‘a slow starter’ and then omitted him from the side that started against Sunderland on Saturday.

In Capello, though, Carrick has reignited some interest, so much so that the Italian has now declared that the United midfielder will start against either Ukraine this Saturday or Belarus four days later.

England might have qualified for next summer’s World Cup with these two games to spare but Capello is determined to make good use of them and the friendlies that will form what remains of the build-up to South Africa.

And Carrick is someone Capello sees as an important cog in his England machine.

Capello considers Carrick unique; a player who offers an alternative to Gareth Barry in that midfield holding role should England need a plan B.

Carrick is a holding midfielder who performs more of a quarterback role with his passing. As close to Xabi Alonso as Capello can find. And something different to the more defensive, more destructive Barry.

It will be interesting if Owen Hargreaves is available come next summer. Sources at United insist he will be back soon and as fit as ever.

They say the medical specialists have cured his chronic knee problem, allowing him to return to the kind of form he displayed in the last World Cup.

But Hargreaves is a player Barry needs to worry about and not someone who should concern Carrick if he proves himself capable of executing the game plan Capello has in mind.



This is an important time for Capello, and the injuries that have forced Joleon Lescott and Paul Robinson to withdraw will at least allow the England manager to take another look at yet more options.

Joe Hart could stake a claim to become England’s third choice goalkeeper behind David James and Robert Green, while Gary Cahill has a chance to impress.

In training, James and Ashley Cole were forced to sit on the sidelines.

More concerns for Capello. But Carrick was fit and for the United midfielder it represented the start of a very important week.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz0TDC30dNC
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