In how many different interviews will Owen Hargreaves have to announce to the world that he wants to play in the English Premier League before Manchester United take notice and bring him in?
With our record/luck/history, Ferguson will wait two years on Carrick, and Hargreaves will end up helping Arsenal win the Champions League.
Carrick has been brought in because of his creative skills and his Premiership experience. It is obvious that Ferguson is not willing to gamble big money on players he hasn’t seen in action (Hargreaves), which is perhaps why Senna and Vieira (and Gattuso) feature higher up on United’s list while Mascherano and Hargreaves are nowhere to be seen.
Carrick, according to Ferguson, is also expected to fit into Keano’s boots. After Ronaldo failing to perform Beckham’s role, will we see another player fail to live up to expectations?
Before Carrick, United had a huge hole to plug in midfield and a similar void to fill in attack. After Carrick, United are no where near to filling that midfield gap. Carrick is a creative, passing player, not the box-to-box, hard-tackling midfielder United have been craving for. Carrick’s inclusion will demand a change in tactics to offer him more protection, and centering our game around the Ferdinand/Carrick/Rooney axis will, if anything, make us even weaker. In the past couple of seasons our lack of penetration from the wings has been damning – things look to get worse before they get better.
Overpriced, overrated and not the right fit – no wonder that United fans are alternating between relief at buying a striker and anger for wasting the club’s limited transfer funds.
The big question is if Carrick can tackle as well (or even half as well) as he can pass, and that he will be able to go forward to support Scholes and co. Ferguson has made a big gamble by pledging so much money on him, and if this bet doesn’t come off you can be sure that Ferguson will not be so ‘loved’ by the management any more.
Carrick is expected to play against Porto in Amsterdam on Friday, so we will know soon enough how he operates in Keano’s role.
Read more on this topic at UnitedRant: The Insanity of Carrick.
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