pede54;2592956 said:
Well, I must admit man, I was looking for the mistakes as much as the good points. I watched and absorbed everything Carrick did last night, because I really needed to make up my mind on this guy.
I've watched Carrick for years now, and of course I've seen him lay off a decent pass now and again, and I've seen him put in a good tackle too, but so do many other players who, perform better and more consistantly than he does.
I just do not get the overwhelming vote of confidence this guy gets from everyone. He is a very average player. Someone today called him a technical genius with incredible vision. He cannot be talking about the same Carrick surely.
Sorry, but I just don't and have never, seen much that is special about Carrick, and I certainly would not want him as one of the first choice eleven England players.
Fabio will stick to the starting 11 that has played in the last four victorious games for England. The setup does not need changing, and most of those players who played last night will return to where they belong. Back to the subs bench.
They are good second string players, but no more than that.
I have to say I disagree with some of your comments. I felt Carrick retained the ball reasonably well and produced a good performance. I think that he is consistent, he's been an ever present fixture for Manchester United since joining and has won two league titles and a champions league. ok he's not one of the most talked about players in the team but everyone plays their role and personally I'm a great fan of Carrick (slightly biased but oh well).
We need a balanced midfield and it's obviously not Lampard and Gerrard together. I'd say Lampard, mainly because Gerrard hasn't impressed me at all of late for England and Lampard has looked very good at club level and the better of the two in recent internationals. Then there is Barry or Carrick I would say. Hargreaves can't retain any fitness so lets rule him out of the debate for the moment. Even if Carrick doesn't start we need cover if Barry is injured and Carrick is the player to do that. So for South Africa I would say the 4 CM's should be Barry, Lampard, Carrick, Gerrard.
About Carson- all I can say in his defence is that he has had two tough opponents in Croatia and Germany. I think he's worth a chance in an easier game, I don't know who else we're playing in a friendly other than Spain- a game which I wouldn't play him in.
I notice you aren't happy with Glen Johnson, I'm not convinced either I have to admit, but the problem is who else can we play there? Gary Neville is too old and Wes Brown can be inconsistent. I guess Mancienne may be ready in time for the world cup or Richards might get back to his best form.
On German keepers, Adler is at Bayer Leverkusen the league leaders in Germany so he must be fairly good. Neuer I've seen and he looked a good keeper to me. It's between those two I would think, or possibly Enke. Klose did play the first half in Berlin, Ballack was a miss but again the players in there were of a reasonable standard- Rolfes (leverkusen), Jones (schalke) and Trochowski (HSV) are all at good clubs.
Anyway i can't wait for the next international game.