Hard as it may be to believe now that he is a decorated club legend, for several years Michael Carrick was somewhat of an enigma at Manchester United. Carrick had joined the English titans in 2006 to fill the void left in defensive midfield months earlier by longtime United captain Roy Keane, whose rampaging performances imposing himself everywhere on the pitch had been the engine of the club’s successes for a over a decade.
United fans anticipating similar showings from his direct replacement were left somewhat perplexed to find that the lanky, slow-moving Carrick’s game was based in anticipation and calm, economic distribution of the ball rather than Keane’s frenetic escalations at every stage of play.