GREAT CARRICKTER
Pure class to the end of his playing days as Michael bows out
HE is even a class act with a microphone in his hand and a stadium to address, knowing when to play it long or short.
Brushing aside his own contribution to this win as evidence of why he is retiring, but dwelling on a heartfelt message to Sir Alex Ferguson.
Fleetingly insisting it really was time to call time before, at length, emphasising how much he was looking forward to working with Jose Mourinho.
Always has been a clever operator, Michael Carrick. Despite his modesty, there was enough in his parting performance to suggest, even approaching 37, sufficient quality remains to be effective in the odd game or two.
His vision was the source of Marcus Rashford’s winner and there was no-one who outshone him on his final Premier League appearance.
But as he talked so eloquently after the game, his face betrayed the physical toll 83 minutes of
Premier League football had taken on him.
Athletes know their own bodies better than anyone else.
Carrick’s has told him ‘enough’. He also knows he would probably not get a game under Mourinho next season, particularly when the squad has been restocked.
Which it will be, surely. Even in victory, their 25th of a Premier League season, United were largely unimpressive. But in Mourinho’s mitigation, he clearly had an eye towards his latest Wembley engagement.
With Romelu Lukaku presumably returning to training, whether Rashford starts in the FA Cup Final is a matter for conjecture.
While a pillar of United’s recent past took a final bow, a player who should be a pillar of its future had a curious time.
Rashford did not celebrate his goal exuberantly, but maybe that was because it was a simple task after Juan Mata collected Carrick’s pass and put it on a plate.
Or maybe he is peeved at failing to start two consecutive Premier League games in almost six months.
Rashford should represent United’s future, but it will take more than a routine matchwinner to convince Mourinho.
What it might take is someone in his ear, who in 12 years at Old Trafford understands how important it is for United to be inspired by the vibrancy of youth. Someone like Michael Carrick.