In the recent home match against Liverpool he attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 92/98. A 94% pass completion rate. Against Chelsea he attempted and completed more passes than any other player with 66/76, a percentage of 87%. And against Stoke Carrick attempted and completed more passes than any other player with an outstanding 129 out of 139 passes. Not only that, Carrick has added goals back to his game, despite the job he has been asked to do the manager.
Many overlook the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson has asked Carrick in recent years to do a specific job, to shield the back four and essentially be a quarterback of sorts, a role not too familiar too him at the time. I would be the first one to say at times last season Carrick was drastically off form, far too slow on the ball and reluctant to pass forward but rather play the safe ball. Even though his statistics were similar to those mentioned above, the effectiveness of his passing has improved dramatically this term. Being out at the start of the year made Carrick take note of the way Cleverley was performing, and hence the performances Carrick’s produced have softened the blow of losing Cleverley for a large chunk of this season. And surely Carrick would have done a far more effective of subduing Mesut Ozil in the World Cup than a certain Gareth Barry did.
Speaking of Tom…
If the title of this article is anything to go by then, Tom Cleverley does not deserve a place in the squad and I would be a hypocrite, but with a good part of the season still left to go and if he can pick up his early season performances, then he should be included. There is no English central midfielder quite like him in the premier league. The blistering start made by Cleverley led to him being hailed as ‘Manchester’s very own Iniesta’ among other comparisons. Certainly not on the level of the Barcelona maestro, but the way the youngster seamlessly fitted into the team at the beginning of the season and contributed to the team’s demolitions of North London’s finest, Spurs and Arsenal rightly made every United fan excited.
The 22 year old was instrumental in the teams way of playing early in the season. Pass and move was on the agenda, but as well as that Cleverley; it is not unfair to say; has very much a Barcelona mindset of playing the game; similar to the of Arsenal prodigy Jack Wilshere. Rarely losing the ball, passing effectively and always looking for space and controlling the pace of the game are all attributes Cleverley has shown to posses, a young Paul Scholes maybe? However the injuries he has picked up this season as well as the one sustained on his loan spells in years gone by must mean his obvious talent must be taken with a pinch of optimism.
So with the Euros coming up, and England this time not having the weight of the expectation of the nation of their shoulders, why shouldn’t these three midfielders be picked in the squad? In an era where international football is won by teams that can keep the ball, and with England time after time being outthought and outplayed in midfield surely picking this intelligent ball playing Englishmen could easily help England to get beyond the quarter finals stage they always seem to stumble at.
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