Can Michael Carrick become the new Paolo Maldini?
-guardian.co.uk-
A mentor of the Manchester United midfielder believes he is showing signs of one day becoming a classy defender.
It was deep into the second half of Manchester United's televised midweek Champions League win at Wolfsburg when Glenn Roeder reached for his mobile phone and sent Michael Carrick a text message. As United's midfielder-turned-sweeper for the night returned to the dressing room he was duly greeted by the words: "The new Maldini." Back in his Essex sitting room, Roeder, who managed the young Carrick at West Ham United, received the reply: "Not for a long while..."
At 28 Carrick should have several seasons spent controlling midfield ahead of him, but he could yet finish his career occupying the position in which Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit and occasionally Paolo Maldini enjoyed distinguished swansongs.
"The free, sweeping role, behind two markers in a back three is an old man's position and Michael's still too young for it, still too valuable in central midfield," said Roeder. "But, by the time he gets into his 30s, 3-5-2 might just be back in fashion and Michael may find himself turned into a sweeper.
"At this moment, I don't think there is anyone in England who would be capable of playing that role better than Michael. I can see him taking the ball from the goalkeeper, bringing it out and building play."
Once an elegant centre-half capped at England B level, Roeder would have relished operating alongside a Carrick-style libero. "Michael's got a bit of height, which you need to sweep, he's got a wonderful passing range and just glides across the pitch," said Roeder. "He's also possesses two good feet so, if strikers try to close him down on his right side – his natural one – he'll just play off his left foot, which is now just as good. And, most importantly, Michael reads the game brilliantly."
Roeder's belief that Sir Alex Ferguson really could have "the new Maldini" on his hands is not informed purely by his having seen Gullit and Hoddle make seamless transitions from midfielders to liberos at Chelsea and Swindon Town respectively.
"It's about Michael's football brain, his intelligence and attitude," he said. "Like Paolo di Canio, Paul Gascoigne and Rob Lee, Michael really understands football."
In Wolfsburg a litany of injuries left Ferguson with one fit specialist defender in Patrice Evra, thereby forcing the decision to deploy Carrick between Evra and his fellow midfielder Darren Fletcher.
Although Carrick's job was not exactly that of a pure sweeper as, sporadically, United confused the Germans by switching to 4-4-2 with Park Ji-sung dropping back to right back, he was part of a system designed to make optimal use of United's superior passing ability and movement.
Perhaps appropriately, this experiment took place in Germany. "Nowadays 3-5-2 is old ideology but there was a time when every German team played it and every side used their best player at sweeper," said Roeder. "It was the Beckenbauer syndrome.
"Today, though, everyone's into the Dutch ideology of 4-3-3 and 4-5-1, which is all about ensuring you're never outnumbered in midfield."
For the visit of Aston Villa tomorrow, Ferguson is expected to revert to a flat-back four with Carrick paired alongside the returning Nemanja Vidic.
Considering that Martin O'Neill's physically formidable attacking armoury includes John Carew, Emile Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor, Carrick could be in for a daunting 90 minutes. Roeder, though, remains unconcerned.
"Michael's not a marker, he'll never be a conventional centre-half, but as long as Vidic partners him, he'll be fine," he said. "Vidic will go for everything in the air and Michael will drop off and tidy up.
"He musn't be drawn into a physical battle but there's more than one way to defend. Michael will play with his brain, he'll draw Villa's strikers into areas where they don't want to be and lay the ball off where they don't want it to go."