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Michael Carrick Profile |
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Birth Date: July 28, 1981
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Birth Place: Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
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Birth Name: Michael Adrian Carrick
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Height: 6'1"
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Biography |
Michael Adrian Carrick (born 28 July 1981 in Wallsend,
Tyneside) is an English footballer who currently plays for
Manchester United as a midfielder.
Carrick first came involved with football when he was 5
years old, playing five-a-side football within Wallsend Boys
Club on Saturday nights, courtesy of his father's volunteer
capacity work at the club. Football became more serious for
him at the age of 12 when he was selected for Wallsend
Schools' and later on North Tyneside Schools'. Whilst
playing for Wallsend Boys' Club under 16's, he was capped
for the England Boys' Club side. During the school years,
and the years up until his move to West Ham United, Carrick
actually played as a centre forward; it was only at West Ham
where he started to play more often as a midfielder.
Having studied at Wallsend's Western Middle School and
Burnside Community High School until completing his GCSEs in
1997, he was courted by many clubs before being taken to
West Ham by Wallsend-based North East scouts Dave Mooney and
Bill Gibbs, who had watched Carrick for a few years playing
for Wallsend Boys' Club. Thus, Carrick's professional career
began at the famous youth academy of West Ham United in
1998. A notable contribution during the season 98-99 came
from him in the FA Youth Cup final, where he helped,
alongside another rising star Joe Cole, West Ham to a 9-0
victory over Coventry City, scoring two goals himself.
Carrick made his senior debut as a substitute replacing Rio
Ferdinand in a 3-0 win at Bradford City in August 1999. But
for the most part of season 1999-2000, Carrick played on
loan at Swindon Town. He was loaned again the next season,
2000-2001, this time to Birmingham City. There his exploits
gained widespread recognition, with him being eventually
nominated for a PFA Young Player of the Season award (Steven
Gerrard of Liverpool FC was the winner).
2002-2003 was a season to forget for Carrick, as much of it
for him was plagued by injury and West Ham were eventually
relegated from the FA Premier League at the end of the
season. Carrick decided to stay with the club, playing for
them the subsequent season 2003-2004 in the division now
called Coca-Cola Championship. At the time, a number of
clubs were credited with an interest in Carrick, such as
Portsmouth, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It appeared that
Arsenal were winning the race to sign him, before Patrick
Vieira decided to stay at the club, thus stopping any
potential transfer.
Gifted with two strong feet, Carrick is equally adept at
hitting long and short range passes with either foot. His
vision is another attribute which he is credited with,
splitting midfields and indeed defences with a single pass.
Before the beginning of season 2004-2005, keen to ply his
trade in the highest league, Carrick then moved to Tottenham
Hotspur for a fee of £2.75m. The following two seasons at
Tottenham were a major success for him as Spurs enjoyed an
upturn in footballing fortunes with major investments in new
players and a new management. Under the guidance of Spurs
manager Martin Jol, Carrick rose to fame with Spurs during
the seasons 04-05 and 05-06, gaining the sort of reputation
that eventually lead to his transfer to Manchester United on
31 July 2006. The completed move had a £14 million basic
fee, which may with time rise up to £18.6 million, depending
on club and player success, thus potentially making Carrick
the fifth most expensive player acquired by Manchester
United.
Carrick wears the famous number 16 shirt for Manchester
United, previously worn by former captain and Manchester
United great Roy Keane.
He made his Premiership debut for United on August 23, 2006,
coming on as a substitute in United's 3-0 away win over
Charlton Athletic. He had sustained an injury in his
original debut against Porto in the Amsterdam Tournament. He
made his starting line-up debut against Watford on August
26, 2006 at Vicarage road, which United went on to win 2-1.
As of January 2007, Carrick had started almost every game
for United in the 2006/7 season, including a
Man-of-the-Match performance against Chelsea. He was briefly
injured in late December, at which point his 'holding' role
was filled in by John O'Shea or Darren Fletcher.
Carrick scored his first goal for Manchester United on
January 13, 2007 - the second goal in a 3-1 win over Aston
Villa at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
He made his first senior international start in May 2005
during England's tour of the USA,[8] having made two
substitute appearances in 2001. England national football
team manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson considered Carrick to be a
good option as a holding midfielder with others such as
Scott Parker and Ledley King. On 8 May 2006, Carrick was
named in England's squad for the 2006 World Cup by manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson. Carrick played in one World Cup game,
the group match against Ecuador, which England won 1-0.
Carrick was named Man of the Match in this performance but
for the next game against Portugal, it was felt that a more
cautious approach was needed, thus Owen Hargreaves replaced
him. |
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Other Information |
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Plays for Manchester United FC. |
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