Everything about Michael Carrick totally explained
Michael Adrian Carrick (born
28 July 1981 in
Wallsend,
Tyne and Wear) is an
English footballer who currently plays for
Manchester United as a
midfielder. He previously played for
West Ham United and more recently
Tottenham Hotspur. Distinctive features of his play identified at the time of his move to
Manchester United included his inventive distribution of the ball and his passing and crossing abilities. He has so far played 13 times for the
England national football team.
Club career
Early years
Carrick first became involved with football when he was five years old, playing
five-a-side football with
Wallsend Boys Club on Saturday nights, courtesy of his father's volunteer work at the club. Football became more serious for him at the age of 12 when he was selected for Wallsend Schools' and later on North Tyneside Schools'. Whilst playing for Wallsend Boys' Club under 16s, he was capped for the England Boys' club side. During the school years, and the years up until his move to
West Ham United, Carrick actually played as a
centre forward; it was only at West Ham where he started to play more often as a
midfielder.
West Ham
Having studied at Wallsend's Western Middle School and Burnside Community High School until completing his
GCSEs in 1997, he was courted by many clubs before being taken to West Ham by Wallsend-based North East scouts Dave Mooney and Bill Gibbs, who had watched Carrick for a few years playing for Wallsend Boys' Club. Surprisingly, few clubs from the north-east, where Carrick was from, wanted to sign him, and
Portsmouth F.C. manager
Harry Redknapp later revealed this was because he grew so much that he became clumsy with the ball and constantly had knee pains.
Carrick's professional career began at the famous youth academy of West Ham United in 1998. A notable contribution during the season 98-99 came from him in the
FA Youth Cup final, where he helped, alongside another rising star
Joe Cole, West Ham to a 9-0 victory over
Coventry City, scoring two goals himself.
Carrick made his senior debut as a substitute replacing
Rio Ferdinand in a 3-0 win at
Bradford City in August
1999. He spent two periods on loan that season, a couple of months at
Swindon Town and a month at
Birmingham City, and made a few more appearances for West Ham. But in
2000-01, his exploits in his first full season for West Ham gained widespread recognition, resulting in his being nominated for the
PFA Young Player of the Year award (
Steven Gerrard of
Liverpool FC was the winner).
2002-2003 was a season to forget for Carrick, as much of it for him was plagued by injury and West Ham were eventually relegated from the
FA Premier League at the end of the season. Carrick decided to stay with the club, playing for them the subsequent season 2003-2004 in the division now called
Football League Championship. At the time, a number of clubs were credited with an interest in Carrick, such as
Portsmouth,
Arsenal and
Tottenham Hotspur. It appeared that Arsenal were winning the race to sign him, before
Patrick Vieira decided to stay at the club, thus stopping any potential transfer.
Tottenham Hotspur
Before the beginning of season 2004-2005, keen to ply his trade in the highest league, Carrick then moved to
Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £2.75 million. An initial bid of £10 million by United was rejected, though a later bid with a £14 million basic fee, potentially rising to £18.6 million depending on club and player success, was accepted. This potentially makes Carrick the fifth most expensive player acquired by Manchester United.
Carrick wears the number 16 shirt for Manchester United, previously worn by former captain
Roy Keane.
He made his Premiership debut for United on
23 August 2006, coming on as a substitute in United's 3-0 away win over
Charlton Athletic. He had sustained an injury in his original debut against Porto in the Amsterdam Tournament. He made his starting line-up debut against Watford on
26 August 2006 at Vicarage Road, in a match that United went on to win 2-1.
Carrick had started almost every game for United in the 2006-07 season. He was briefly injured in late December, at which point his 'holding' role in central midfield was filled in by
John O'Shea or
Darren Fletcher.
Carrick scored his first goal for Manchester United on
13 January 2007 - the Red Devils' second goal in a 3-1 win over
Aston Villa at
Old Trafford in the
Premier League.
On
10 April 2007 Carrick scored two long-range right-foot curlers against
A.S. Roma in United's 7-1 victory in the quarter finals of the
UEFA Champions League at Old Trafford. He opened the scoring with his first, thus setting United on their way to the semi finals.
With the arrival of
Owen Hargreaves at Old Trafford for the 2007-08 season, Carrick acknowledged that he wasn't guaranteed a place in United's first team.
Carrick suffered an injury setback in October 2007, breaking his elbow against
A.S. Roma in the
UEFA Champions League. He returned on
3 November 2007 coming on as a substitute for
Anderson against
Arsenal in the
Premier League. Following this return, Alex Ferguson adopted a rotation system throughout the 2007-08 season. This sees Carrick competing with the likes of Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes and Anderson for his place in mid-field. Nevertheless Carrick is picked on a regular basis, consistently performing well in his holding role and has been a crucial player in Man Utd's title and Champions League ambitions.
Carrick scored his first goal of the season in the 2 - 1 defeat to Manchester City on the 10th of February with the goal only serving as a consolation. His second goal came in happier circumstances with Carrick adding the fourth goal in the 4 - 1 win over West Ham Utd on the 3rd of May.
On
18 April 2008, Carrick agreed to sign a new five-year contract, along with defenders
Rio Ferdinand and
Wes Brown, which would keep him at
Old Trafford until 2013. The contract was finally signed on
17 May 2008.
Carrick played the full 120 minutes and scored a penatly in United's crucial penalty shootout victory against
Chelsea in the
UEFA Champions League final on
21st May 2008. He collected a winners medal, his first major European winners medal of his career.
International career
He made his first senior international start in May
2005 during England's tour of the
U.S., having made two substitute appearances in
2001.
England national football team manager,
Sven-Göran Eriksson considered Carrick to be a good option as a holding midfielder with others such as
Scott Parker and
Ledley King. On
8 May 2006, Carrick was named in
England's squad for the
2006 World Cup by manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson. Carrick played in one World Cup game, the second round match against Ecuador, which England won 1-0. For the next game against
Portugal, it was felt that a more cautious approach was needed, thus
Owen Hargreaves replaced him who was playing at right back in the Ecuador game.
Despite his consistent form for Manchester United, Carrick continues to be overlooked by England managers. He started games rarely under Sven Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren and new England boss Fabio Capello has omitted him from the squad completely for the time being.
Personal life
Carrick has a brother, Graeme (b.
3 April 1985), who was also at
West Ham United but suffered several injuries. He is now coaching at
Newcastle United's U10 Academy.
Carrick married Lisa Roughead on
June 162007, the same day as England team mates
Steven Gerrard and
Gary Neville married their partners.In April 2008, Lisa gave birth to a baby girl.
Honours
Career statistics
Further Information
Get more info on 'Michael Carrick'.
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