Trawling round cyber space this week has been very interesting due to the ?18.6m transfer of Michael Carrick from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United. To be honest, it has been for the last few weeks since Manchester United revived their interested in the midfielder. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the subject, even State of the Game’s editor and Spurs fan, Alan Hylands. Alan described him as an “ungrateful little bastard” in his opening paragraph, reflecting his disappointment at the potential (as it was then) move. As they say, if you can’t beat them, join them, so here come my thoughts!

Two years ago, Tottenham had a Sporting Director that has now transferred to Chelsea and a Manager that went back to France because he could not see the sea. As strange, but true, as that sounds, it did actually do us some good. In 2004, Tottenham secured the transfer of Wallsend born Michael Carrick for a modest ?2.75m from West Ham. Unlike Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson, Fredi Kanoute and various others, Carrick had not jumped ship when West Ham were relegated. However, the move across London seemed too good to turn down and Carrick made the short journey to White Hart Lane. In the closing stages of the deal, Arsenal and Portsmouth allegedly both came in with bids around ?3.5m, but Carrick decided WHL was the place to play his football. Unfortunately, he had been signed on the recommendation of Frank Arnesen, the then Sporting Director.

Jacques Santini, the mad Frenchman in control at the time, did not want him and promptly made him a bit part player. However, all good things come to those that wait and after Santini had left, Martin Jol made him an integral part of the team. In the 60 or so games that have followed, Carrick has matured as a footballer and become a fans favourite playing his part in the teams best ever Premiership season. His partnership with Jermaine Jenas was a crucial part of the success and he has kept out established internationals such as Pedro Mendes and Edgar Davids and others such as Sean Davis and Tom Huddlestone. He never let the team down and while his goals ratio was not the best, his passing and tackling were both excellent. On the 31st July 2006, that association ended as he left the club in an ?18.6m deal.

A lot of fans are commenting on message boards that Carrick should show some loyalty and stay at Spurs, but can that ever be demanded of a player? Some players have shown blind faith for their hometown club, Alan Shearer immediately springing to mind, but where does that get them? Shearer is as much infamous as he is famous for never having won a medal with Newcastle. Tottenham are not Carrick’s hometown club and in fact the Geordie would probably have played for Newcastle if they had not scrapped their youth and reserve team setup when he came through. The simple fact is any rational human would move job if they had better prospects, better money and better chance of success.

OK, so Tottenham had offered ?45k a week but Manchester United are still topping that, offering Champions League football, better prospects of getting into the England team (sad, but true) and a chance to play for probably the biggest team in the world. I really enjoy my job, get paid relatively well and work for one of the biggest players in the industry. However, if I got a double your money deal and a chance to work for a bigger and better company, I would be off. Is this disloyalty or is it looking after myself and my families interests?

I cannot deny I am disappointed Carrick has left, he was massive for us last season and I honestly thought the 2006/2007 season would be his real breakthrough season where he led the team. The comments coming from WHL and Martin Jol have confirmed how vital he was to the squad, but ?18.6m is a lot of money. World Cup winners Fabio Cannavro and Emerson moved from Juventus to Real Madrid for ?13m combined. Gianluca Zambrotta and Lillian Thuran went from Juventus to Barcelona for a combined fee in the region of ?12m. Yes, the Juventus situation is unique but it still highlights the value of the deal for Tottenham. It has the potential to be a clear profit of ?14m.

?14m profit for a player that Arsenal, Man U, Newcastle etc; could have had for ?2.75m two years ago. He is not even an established international, residing behind Owen Hargreaves in the pecking order. Therefore, however reluctant we were to sell, it was a deal that had to be done. Manchester United fans at my work are scratching their heads wondering why Sir Alex has reinvested Van Nistlerooy’s fee and then some into the deal. Only time will tell if he reaches his potential and emulates Roy Keane, he has the shirt number so he is one step there!

So where does this leave Tottenham? Didier Zakora was excellent in the World Cup for the Ivory Coast and I think he can be a real star at Spurs. He is a different type of player to Michael, more combative, but he will look to replace him in that holding role. I cannot see him spraying the football from defence to attack but I can see him winning a lot of battles in midfield. I also think he will be a good foil for Jenas. When Jenas first joined Newcastle, the Magpies were looking for him to be a superstar that they could build the side around. However, despite captaining the side on a number of occasions, it turned sour and he moved to Tottenham.

The football is the right style for JJ and he hit 7 goals in his first season compared to 9 in over 100 games at St James Park. At first though, he and Carrick were much like Gerrard and Lampard for England. Neither knew which was defending or which was attacking. Once this was established, the relationship flourished and I hope this happens with Zakora. There is no doubt that Zakora is going to be the defensive player, he reminds me of Davids at the peak of his powers, and this will hopefully allow JJ to join in more with the attacks. I only hope that they are able to settle and gel together quickly, as a good start to the season is
crucial.

I genuinely wish Michael Carrick the best of luck of with his new career at Manchester United. He has not been like Sol “Judas” Campbell and told the board he will sign a new contract and then walked away for free. He has told everyone he wants the move, been upfront and held his head high. In an interview after the move, he could not speak highly enough of the manager, the setup, fans and players. For this he has to be respected, as it is not very often that happens these days. One player does not make a team and there is a fantastic set of players for us to support. We should throw out energies into supporting the team as opposed to venting our fury at the now departed.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006 at 11:52 am and is filed under Tottenham Hotspur. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.