AUDERE EST FACERE: Is Carrick Really Good Enough For Real Madrid?
June 30th, 2006 by Alan HylandsNo doubt we’ve all heard the quotes from Real Madrid presidential candidate Lorenzo Sanz who says that he has secured the agreement for the signature of Michael Carrick from Tottenham Hotspur for a reputed ?20m if he wins the upcoming election. Sanz isn’t the frontrunner though and with his competitor for the president post, Villa Mir, claiming that he’ll bring Arsene Wenger to the Bernabeu if he wins, I’m not sure which I’d prefer.
?20m for Michael Carrick seems a bit excessive for me but then I’m not one of the starry eyed lovers who worship the ground he walks on. Maybe I’m missing something but Carrick never strikes me as having the same fire in his belly that a truly great player like Steven Gerrard has. ?20m for Gerrard I could accept, the fact that Manchester United are now upping their offer to ?20m to compete with Madrid makes me go all cross eyed. Either ?20m or ?12m plus Park Ji Sung (which I’d prefer) if yesterday’s whispers are to be believed but either way, a fine return on a ?2.75m investment two summers ago.
I do like Michael Carrick as a player, he’s very classy, very stylish, makes room for himself and has made Spurs tick this last season but I doubt whether he has the credentials to ultimately replace Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid. Even typing that out makes it seem even more ridiculous than I already thought it. For now I think the best Spurs can do is take a firm offer for the highest amount we can and move on to other targets.
Didier Zokora looks to have completed his medical and if he can put in similar performances in the Premiership as he did at the World Cup we may find ourselves saying “Michael Who?” this time next year. Real Madrid? Not quite yet if you ask me.
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June 30th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Although I agree with most of what you say Alan, replacing Carrick is going to be harder than people may think. Yes we have signed from what I can make out a great player in Zakora, but he is not in the Carrick mould, more that of Gerrard or Keane.
The trouble we have is that Martin Jol has sculptured a team around Carrick. His vision, passing and play from deep is something that you do not see in other players. Last year we saw the best of Carrick as he was playing alongside a ‘Zakora type player’, one who will run and run and break down play (Tainio/Davids).
If we sell Carrick then we must replace him and this may or may not disrupte the way in which Spurs play.
In my opinion we should do what we can to keep him, if we must sell him then I would like to see some world class playmaker in the Carrick mould come in. The trouble is where are they? Riquelme? I dont think so……..
June 30th, 2006 at 9:03 am
I agree Anthony, Zokora isn’t the same type of player as Carrick but I really don’t think too many enjoyed the actual style of football we played last season a lot of the time and it was Carrick’s style of playing that made us stick to that style throughout the team.
Now with Carrick going I think Jol can free himself from that “build the team around Carrick” mentality and get some more vibrancy from the central midfield area.
Riquelme would be nice…
June 30th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Not sure I see your point. If Park is worth ?8m then Carrick is worth at least ?20m as he is surely many times better than Park. Carrick is easily good enough for Real - this is a club that signed a plodder like Graveson for god’s sake. Not sure how any Spurs fan can fail to see the value of Carrick. He is a fine player, always has time on the ball, passes with both feet and keeps possession at all costs. He is an essential type of player to any team with aspirations to be any good. We should not sell him in my view, not for ?20m, not even for ?25m. We are supposed to be building a team. The idea that Zakora can come from a career in the French 2nd division and replace a player of Carrick’s ability is fantasy. Carrick isnt Gerarrd, that is clear, but he is a different type of player, much more similar to Alonso if you really want to make comparisons to Liverpool. And Liverpool wouldnt sell Alonson for ?20m, would they? And by the way, you think you’ll get Gerrard for ?20m? No chance - ?50m maybe. Simple market forces.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:07 am
This sounds silly but why not Riquelme? I dont know if anyone has heard but he has a release fee in his contract at about ?11m(16mEuros).
Villareal have no Europe next year not even UEFA cup,, maybe just maybe if we go in for him early, you never know?
Davids, Keane, Defoe, King, Robinson and he has played and didn’t get a snff out of the ‘MAESTRO’ Zokora.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:12 am
I cannot believe what I am hearing! Carrick has been Spurs best player (maybe Keano up there with him) for Spurs this year, yes he only scored 3 goals but two of them gave us three points, the strike against Sunderland at home to make it 3-2 and the one against City which made it 2-0 and then turned out to be the winner!
Carrick is worthy of a place in any team, his passing is second to none and i honestly believe we will be a poorer team without him. Zakora or no Zakora, Carrick is a proven Premiership player! Keep him Jol and bring the Uefa Cup back to WHL!
June 30th, 2006 at 9:12 am
I am not all that worried if Carrick leaves. Spurs already have the player to replace him : Huddlestone. He is in the same mould, only that he needs some experience. Once he is settled in the first team after a couple of runs, we will forget about Carrick and Levy will be happy with his investment. At the start of last season who would have imagined that Lennon would explode in the Premier League? I am convinced that Huddlestone is next in line to show his true qualities.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:13 am
I think when he says “Carrick is the partner for Lampard”, he is getting confused with Gerrard. Maybe we’ll get ?30 million for him. Was a great goal Carrick scored in the FA cup final this year.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:16 am
Norbet, I agree Huddlestone is quality and will do a better job than Carrick at the DM role, although Zokora will probably fill that now.
By the way Jon Carrick scored 2 goals for us last season not 3.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Carrick was indeed excellent last season, but you just can’t argue with ?20m. Surely, though, the best deal would be, say, ?10m and Van Nistelrooy? That would complete the Spurs strike force and give us cash to by a left winger (Wilhelmson, Duff?), which is really the most important position for us to strengthen if we are going to make space which Lennon can exploit down the right.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:44 am
As much as I admire Carrick, he has not agreed a new contract, probably wants more salary than Spurs will pay, his value will be down to ?5 mill next year, and nothing the following year if he has not signed a new contract. Do we keep an unhappy player for 2 years and then let him leave for nothing or take ?20 mill now, buy Duff or SWP, Riquelme and Zokora, still be making money and have dedicated players who will put everything into their play. Huddlestone can be the next Lennon and we have a good young side with an attacking midfield. Remeber Sol Campbell, how much did we lose on him. Let Carrick go and get some Spurs attacking flair back into the team.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:09 am
To argue that ‘Huddlestone will do a better defensive midfield job than Carrick’ is pure nonsense. He has to learn the role - it took Carrick 5 years to progress to where he is. Sure Huddlestone is hugely promising but it takes years of experience to gain the positional sense of a Carrick. Why does Carrick always, absolutely always, have more time on the ball than other players? Cos he reads the game and has an outstanding first touch. May not be spectacular but we’ll sure as fk miss it if it isnt there anymore. Big hopes for Hudd, but if he is the regular anchor in midefield next season we wont finish 5th, that is almost a certainty.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:45 am
So a player who’s slow, can’t really go past people, can’t score, can’t tackle and only ever really passes the ball from deep as he doesn’t run too much (because he’s so slow), I think getting 20 million would be a dream come true. It’s not as if we’re lacking central midfelders is it? As for Sun Ji Park-Man utd can have him-hard worker, but let’s face it-is he a good crosser? No. Is he good at getting past people other than bungling past them? No. Does he score many? No. Why do people keep ignoring the facts-let’s give Huddlestone a chance (along with Ghaly and maybe even Murphy if we have to) before we buy more mediocre dross. Besides, it’s not our central midfield that’s the problem, it’s both full-backs and the left-wing.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:58 am
I agree with some of the comments made, but to say that Huddlestone would do a better job than Carrick is just ridiculous! Yes Lennon came in and did exceptionally well and has turned into one of the most sought after young players in England! But that was a bonus, it wasn’t expected! To expect Huddlestone to do for us what Carrick did is stupid!
People say Carrick can’t beat people, has no pace etc, does anyone remember him taking the Arsenal team on his own! Not to mention the fact he was near enough Man-of-the-Match against Ecuador, and he is playing with two of the best midfielders in Europe and outshone them!
I am beginning to think if there are any people here who wen to any games last year, cos if you had you would have seen one of the most consistent players in the Premiership in the slow, boring Carrick.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
carrick wont sign a new contract so has to go.
the hudd looks great to me and i genuinely expect him to be england captian one day. i think jol wants to holders ie hudd + zakora then 2 flying wingers(duff), its the dutch way and a team tactic he practised whilst working in holland before coming to WHL.
manure wont give us 20m as the real candidate doesnt have a hope in hell of winning the election so that quote is meaningless, I heard it will be 16.2m from manure.
may i add that i think alonso is about the best there is in the world in carrick role…
COYS
June 30th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Carrick would not be replacing Zidane at all, instead he would, if he came be replacing the likes of Gravesen and Guti in the centre of midfield. Zidane played wide on the left and used to come inside. Only occasionally did he play through the middle.
However, I think Carrick would do well and probably better than the likes of Gerrard and Lampard in Spain as whilst they are effective players in the english league, they are not of the same techincal class as Carrick when it comes to passing and play making (not my words but those of the two leading football daily papers here in spain AS & MARCA). I agree with them as, although the afore mentioned two do score high profile goals they contribute little in terms of creativity. Lampard is virtually a passenger when Chelsea don’t have the ball and Gerrard offers little when the play does not go through him.
Carrick on the other hand would suit spanish football as he is always an option and his game is essentially one of possession rather than all-out attack as is the case with the other two.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Carrick is clearly a class act, else we all wouldn’t be going on about him so much, this includes fergie and some spanish bloke! But as someone pointed out if he wants the move we shouldn’t stop him, it will only become another judas issue to shout about in two years, and by then huddlestone would have got fed up waiting for his chance, and while carrick’s around he’ll never play, their too similar, so we could loose both, with wat too show for it? but if he is to go to utd we must hold out for money plus ruuud, say 10 mill wat a player he could be for us. im going to be brave but wat about hargreves as a replacement, cheap and good defensively
June 30th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
Jon, did you actually watch the England vs Ecuador game? Near enough Man of the match? I thought he was terrible in the first half, and at best average in the second half. No one’s saying that Huddlestone would definately do a better job, but then we don’t know as he never plays. Plus it would be 20 million to buy some decent wide players. Basically, Carrick is a ?10 million player who Man Utd are so desperate for they’ll pay over the odds again (like Barthez, Ferdinand, Veron, Saha, etc). i like Carrick on the whole, but think we could get a better player for 20 million.
And yes he took it past three Arsenal players and it looked very nice, but as usual with Carrick-end result????
June 30th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Big Chris, the point i was trying to make is that if Carrick was given the role with someone like Zakora (a real defensive midfielder) in the middle with him, i believe he has the ability to take players on and create so much for the likes of Keane and Berbatov!
And yes i did watch the game on Sunday, and i cannot think of anything that Carrick did wrong, he got the ball, distributed well and looked extremely comfotable (considering it was his first match in the World Cup, signs of a good player to fit in like that!).
I can see what everyone is saying, ?20m is a lot of money for someone we paid around ?3 for! A great bit of business but do we really need to sell to get cash for players!
Changing the subject a little, how good would it be for Duff to be at WHL, i honestly believe that if we keep Carrick then the midfield of DuffCarrickZakoraLennon will frighten any team in the Prem, also with Defoe/Keane and Berbatov there are goals. One problem is the full backs, Trabelsi and Bridge anyone?
June 30th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
carrick’s goin so get as much as we can. huddlestone will be much better within two years (skill of carrick wrapped in the physique of king). zokora will add some much needed energy to our midfield. and someone siad riquelme’s available for 11?? let’s buy him and sorin with the money from carrick. COYS!!!!!
July 1st, 2006 at 3:27 am
Simple.
If Carrick signs a new contract, keep him regardless of how much Man U or Real Madrid offer.
If he doesn’t sign, take the best offer and sell him.