With the imminent arrival of Michael Carrick to the theatre of dreams some are suggesting Scholes will lose his place as the £15 million man settles into the heart of midfield, whilst others believe that the Tottenham lad will struggle to compete with the ginger warrior. Who is right? Can Carrick live up to his price tag?
Firstly let’s have a look at each player individually. As Scholes has been with us since he was a toddler we will start with him. Scholes has great vision, well he did until his eyes went blurry, but we are assured he is fine with that now. He can play that killer ball into space for the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney to run into. He is not the quickest player on the park, but boy does he like to get stuck in, sometimes too much. He is known for his lunges at players and lets be honest he wouldn't make a world class centre back, if he played next to Rio every week, there might be a few strikers with very bruised shins. He is great at picking the ball up from outside the opponents box and having a strike, however this aspect of his game has faded slightly in recent years.
Now let's look at Carrick. Michael loves to play a little deeper than Scholes. I see him as the player who will start the majority of moves for us. When I watched him for England this world cup i thought his distribution was world class. He gets the ball and plays it either out to the right, left or through the centre with such precision. Again he is not the quickest player, but he can tackle although it is not his strongest aspect. I think he will provide better cover than Scholes when he sits deep. At 25 he also has time on his side. We will get 7 good years out of him and we have him at a time when he is beginning to peak.
So let's compare the two. In Scholes we have a player that loves to get forward and support the strikers. He is not afraid to have a shot and will create many chances for both Rooney and co this season. In Carrick we have an instigator of moves. He doesn't get forward as much and will spread the play well. In my opinion they will compliment each others style perfectly and all of a sudden our midfield doesn't look all that ropey. If I did have any criticism it would be that we don't have that iron man tackler that we had in Keane. Perhaps one more signing is required?
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I think we need another defensive hard man as well. I have been ranting a bit in the fforums and here about Mascherano. I think he is key although we probably won't get him. Gattuso would be a great buy, but at 29 he is no way a long term solution, and United like Arseanl favour youth over experience.
Carrick's a good passer of the ball and with the talent in front of him going forward Utd are not going to have any problems.
There's no Keane like strong tackler in midfield - but there's plenty of steel in the defence such as Heinze and Vidic.
Oh and Scholes is better, by far but it will be interesting to see how Carrick develops along side him.
I would line u as follows:
VDS
Gary Neville,Brown, Ferdinand, Heinze,
Park, Carrick,Scholes, Ronaldo,
Rooney, Saha
Bench:
Foster
Vidic
Giggs
Rossi
Solskjaer
I think Rossi can play in midfield or striker and Solskjaer can alternate between striker and winger.
Vidic and Brown are neck and neck for me. I think I will be able to make a much more educated decision on the pairing by christmas.
I would be interested on your thoughts on your Arsenal lineup D-train? 1st eleven and bench, perhaps a bit of detail on tactic as well!
Carrick is without doubt a good signing for us, a player in the mould of Pirlo, deep lying playmaker. Unfortunatly (as seems to be the case recently) Fergie is 2 years behind in the transfer market and could have got him when he left West Ham for 3 million.
I'm still of the opinion that we need a ball winner, someone like Gattuso, Mascherano or dare I say it Hargreaves.
If we had that I wonder if a 4-3-3 would be the way forward. I'd also like to see more of Rossi this year providing we don't buy a striker and send him out on loan.
I think Hargreaves is a good player and would represent a great signing for the reds depending on Bayerns valuation of him We may see a high price due to the fact Bayern don't need to sell and from mwhat i've heard he was immense in the holding role for them last term.
4-3-3 Ive never been sure about at Utd but then you can argue that it's all about the players you have in your squad. I remember when we switched to 4-4-2 for the home game against Chelsea and we performed so much more fliudly than with 4-3-3. I just wonder how much more cash Fergie has to play with?
My brother and I were discussing the purchase of Carrick.
Our 'idea' was that Carrick was brought in to bridge the gap between Scholes and Fletcher. Since Scholes is 31 and Fletcher 22, the gap seems too big for Fletcher to take over from Scholes. The pressure has already been getting to Fletcher and it shows in his performances. I would like to say that Fletcher had the right attributes and has shown some decent stuff, although he is struggling. I think Carrick at 25 provides the right bridge in between Fletch and Scholes. So when Scholes retires, we will have a 28-29 yr old Carrick who will have improved and be more experienced.
Obviously, i am convinced a hardcore defensive midfielder will come in. Mascherano is perfect. Tough, simple, smart, and 22, around the same age as Keane when he was bought. And a strong mentality, which is vital for every Man Utd player.
Although I think Ferguson, at this stage of pre-season, will want a DM to come in, who can fit in and settle straight away, in terms of language and in the dressing room. I guess this is the reason English players are expensive, no transition required.
Well put Dips. I firmly believe that at 22 Mascherano has the time to build his talents around the requirements of the team. Language barriers and lifestyle changes are easily overcome at such a young age and the Glazers would see him as having resale potential (I would put that at the bottom of my list of requirements.) I think I will write an article comparing Hargreaves and Mascherano as they seem the most likely suitors to our DM position.
Great Analysis ofyour team d-train thanks. I think Van persie is class as well, he just needs to sort his temper out. I do like the depth that your team has and think you will be strong in the second half of the season. The key for you guys was keeping Henry andit was comforting to see a player choose loyalty over money for a change. I still think we will finish ahead of you this season, but then i wouldn't be a Utd fan if I said otherwise lol. I've got some great tickets for the home game when we play each other, so i hope you are still around on this site by then so we can discuss the game?
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