Still amazes me that people don't get what he brings to the side. Great article OP.

His calmness is something that is very very hard to find out there and there's a reason why so many of his teammates always speak highly of him.

Blind looks to be a decent option but his strengths and weaknesses are different to Carrick's and we miss what Carrick brings. The ideal player would be a mix of the two.

Carrick - I thought exactly that during the match.

Strikers - Exactly, we need two up top (1 behind 1) of Rooney, RvP, Mata and Falcao. 2 behind 1 is too congested and narrow.

I don't know alot players with that dictating skill.
Just locating one that is available is hard enough.

Mason was doing it for Spurs on Saturday - quality looking player with ample time on his side.

I don't feel the passing was to blame but the movement. A striker willing to run in behind along with more energy from Adnan and Di Maria is what was needed. You can only make passes if they're on at the end of the day

comment by Robben #20 (U1145)
posted 59 seconds ago
Carrick - I thought exactly that during the match.

Strikers - Exactly, we need two up top (1 behind 1) of Rooney, RvP, Mata and Falcao. 2 behind 1 is too congested and narrow.
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2 behind 1, also mean that wingers is lower in the field.
Basically means no good use of wide play. Or no wide play at all with a diamond.

................RvP.........Falcao..........
.......................Di Maria................
..............Januzaj......Rooney
..........................Blind

.........................RvP.............(wouldn't look like this but.)
....Falcao.......Rooney........Di Maria
...............Januzaj.....Blind

A player that impressed me yesterday (not saying we should buy him) was Noble. His calmness on the ball was a huge help to West Ham yesterday. He's 27 now and West Ham born and bred but I would have thought he might have made a bigger move by now.

comment by Wonder Man (U11164)
posted 2 minutes ago
I don't feel the passing was to blame but the movement. A striker willing to run in behind along with more energy from Adnan and Di Maria is what was needed. You can only make passes if they're on at the end of the day
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wonder Man - this is the problem. Both Falcao and RvP are classic penalty box strikers. You need a Rooney or even a Welbeck to do the running and stretch defences, allowing Falcao/RvP to be in space in the box. With 1 behind 1 up front, that means you can play 2 players wide - more options for creativity and help for the LB/RB.

comment by Falcao (the two feeted beast) - Left or Right does not really Mata (U11917)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Robben #20 (U1145)
posted 59 seconds ago
Carrick - I thought exactly that during the match.

Strikers - Exactly, we need two up top (1 behind 1) of Rooney, RvP, Mata and Falcao. 2 behind 1 is too congested and narrow.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2 behind 1, also mean that wingers is lower in the field.
Basically means no good use of wide play. Or no wide play at all with a diamond.

................RvP.........Falcao..........
.......................Di Maria................
..............Januzaj......Rooney
..........................Blind

.........................RvP.............(wouldn't look like this but.)
....Falcao.......Rooney........Di Maria
...............Januzaj.....Blind
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Quite.

With 1 behind 1, you have another spare player to play wide. Valencia and Shaw have help going forward, and we have an alternative angle of attack.

Would carried k have popped up to score the equalizer as blind has a couple of times now?

comment by Reddevils double (U12215)
posted 5 seconds ago
Would carried k have popped up to score the equalizer as blind has a couple of times now?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, he did against Fulham last season and against Wigan a few seasons back.

He does have goals in his locker but equally you could say that with his calmness on the ball and experience, maybe had he started the game we may not have needed an equaliser in the first place.

comment by Reddevils double (U12215)
posted 1 minute ago
Would carried k have popped up to score the equalizer as blind has a couple of times now?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No he wouldn't. However, due to much more measured play we would probably have been ahead before then

Pure rubbish. We were lucky he was not in that game. The way Valencia was closing down Blind, Carrick would have been close to useless on the day. Nothing Carrick could have done different today and he certainly would not have made that run to score. Would probably have died running that fast. This delusion has gone on for way too long.

I'm Carricks biggest fan. When he came back he brought a calmness back to the side. He dictates play and generally rules the defensive midfield

I have to say though, the more I see of blind, the more I like him. Not as good a passer but a player I really like.

I like Blind, he's more of a combative DM than Carrick - as someone said, an amalgamation of the two would be an amazing player.

I'm Carricks biggest fan.

------------------------------------------------

Um, i'm his biggest fan.

I don't see why Carrick and Blind are always compared. Two footballers that have completely different attributes, style and a decade apart.

I think they'd compliment each other in the middle.

comment by Robb - LVG makes Moyes look like Pep. (U19350)
posted 2 minutes ago
I'm Carricks biggest fan.

------------------------------------------------

Um, i'm his biggest fan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT!

comment by Darkphoenix (U11503)
posted 1 minute ago
I don't see why Carrick and Blind are always compared.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
They play in the same position/take the same spot in the team.

I wouldn't say that Carrick is the answer to all our problems. But he's our wise captain after all. And with that it shows how highly he is thought of by most within the club.

BUT again, Rooney had maybe a mismatch, but so did almost rest of the squad. Biggest fault is again to use both Falcao and RvP with very little chance creation. No point at all. Sorry to say that my man Falcao will probably leave in the summer, probably to another club where he will be immense once again. His lack of goals is totally down to us really.

RvP also, rarely perform good nowadays. Has one good, two bad, and yesterday was one in the wrong end.

With so many midfield problems we've had, from loosing Scholes to retirement, having to bring him back, losing Pogba on a free to try buy him back for half of our transfer budget. It's lame, what about Herrera, Atletic Bilbao's best player under Bielsa. Had he continued that run he had, he would have taken Iniesta's spot in Spain in a matter of a year or two. But no, he's sitting on the bench. That's why he used £30m on him. It's so useless.

It would reallly not shock me if we really bought Falcao, sold Di Maria for half the money to PSG. That's the kind of management we've seen lately.

Ok - we've had some injuries, but mostly the defensive line that have had to rotate. Why our offensive movement is so terrible is really no good answer.
Di Maria looks like less than half the player he was under the WC, can't be going on like this.

I was really looking forward to sunday's match, but it disappointed once again. West Ham with half the team out was a absolutely WINWIN, but we were lucky to have a draw. That's the kind of team we are. Outplayed.

Someone has to start doing their job, but it's not like I'm doing mine right now. (sitting on the office writing this shait) so guess it's fair to say that the decline the club has had the last two years didn't shock as much as it hurts to once again be below Southon on the table. And we also had a real good chance to put some pressure on City. Not even best in the citieh? -.-

....................De Gea

..Rafael....Jones......Rojo....Shaw

............Carrick.........Blind

.................Mata/Herrera

...Di Maria.......................Young
.....................Rooney


Just play a fecking balanced team LVG.

Playing as many strikers as we can doesn't seem to be working, so we need to flood our midfield with actual midfielders who can create.

In my opinion, I would give Pereira a run out, and play him along side Herrera and Blind.