Only Dk believes Ballack is better than Carrick and his reasons are not far-fetched. Carrick is a smooth operator, a serial killer who does his job diligently and produces results. He rarely gets subbed cos of what he gives to the team.

But Ballack the nearly man tries to cover up his ineptitude with bullying on the pitch. He has been the most subbed chelsea midfielder cos he isnt as effective as he is expected to be. He only has that name due to the influence of the media and for being the captain of Germany.

Should Carrick and Ballack be in the same team, Ballack would have long retired or at best been on loan in the Dutch league.

@ Mrs Cristal Higginbottom,
I should be asking you if you have had dinner Carrick better than Gerrard, Lampard, Hargeaves? Or did you share Sauron's meal?
Pls don't he is on a weed enriched diet

@ Sauron,

He has won trophies Michael Ballack can never win in his miserable career.

Fletcher, Anderson, Oshea,Giggs and wes Brown have won trophies Baggio, Gascoigne, Totti did not win means they are better?

Maybe you watched another final. Ballack was named MOTM by Eurosport some channels named VDS and some C.Ronaldo nobody mentioned Carrick

Carrick is so good he has 14 national caps? even less than Jenas?

ndumart, You too beleive Carrick is better than Ballack? even Anderson is better than Essien because he won UCL trophy and Nani better than J Cole

ndumart:

Only Dk believes Ballack is better than Carrick and his reasons are not far-fetched. Carrick is a smooth operator, a serial killer who does his job diligently and produces results. He rarely gets subbed because of what he gives to the team.

But Ballack the nearly man tries to cover up his ineptitude with bullying on the pitch. He has been the most subbed chelsea midfielder because he isnt as effective as he is expected to be. He only has that name due to the influence of the media and for being the captain of Germany.

Should Carrick and Ballack be in the same team, Ballack would have long retired or at best been on loan in the Dutch league.

U don't win 2 EPL titles and 1 UCL title with a soft midfield.
Carrick has been the reason we have been successful since joining us.
He looks easy on the eye but he produces result. . . . .He is by far our best midfielder in the last 2 seasons.

Carrick is so good he does not need to tackle.
Matter of fact, the only time i have seen him carded was when he clattered Almunia against Arsenal at the Emirates(harsh booking IMO).

@ Dayokanu,

Carrick is more important to Man Utd than Ballack is impotant to Chelsea.
Essien/Makelele is what makes Chelsea tick not a pathetic self-servicer like Ballack.
Carrick combines smooth defending/interception with vision and slide rule passes Ballack can never dream of.
Michael Carrick = Mascherano + Alonso(He is that good).

~Sauron~:

Carrick is so good he does not need to tackle.
Michael Carrick = Mascherano + Alonso(He is that good).

He who has ears, let him ear.

Cantona in his playing days had no equal, how many caps did he win for france?
The likes of Clichy, Sagna, Almunia, Diaby, Wayne Bridge, Alex, Riera, Pepe Reina are all good in their respective positions, yet how many caps have they won for their countries.

Fabregas is good, yet he hardly starts for spain. Fabiano was not reckoned with in Brazil until recently. How about Elber, Ailton and even Germany's Brazilian Gomez(that guy reminds me of Victur Ijeh), how many caps did they win for their country?

ndumart:

He who has ears, let him ear.

Cantona in his playing days had no equal, how many caps did he win for france?
The likes of Clichy, Sagna, Almunia, Diaby, Wayne Bridge, Alex, Riera, Pepe Reina are all good in their respective positions, yet how many caps have they won for their countries.

Fabregas is good, yet he hardly starts for spain. Fabiano was not reckoned with in Brazil until recently. How about Elber, Ailton and even Germany's Brazilian Gomez(that guy reminds me of Victur Ijeh), how many caps did they win for their country?

DayoNazi has no retentive memory. . . . . .He wouldn't understand.
How can any straight thinking dude NOT appreciate what Carrick has brought to the United game.

Carrick is actually a strange beast. He combines the attributes of a specialised defensive midfielder like Makelele or Mascherano, with the attributes of a deep-lying playmaker like Xavi and Pirlo (or Scholes these days). He's not as good at either job as the specialised players so will never be considered as individually brilliant, but the combination of skills makes him inarguably more efficient, and allows his team more variety in how they line-up.

For instance, neither Alonso nor Pirlo would be able to partner Scholes for most of a season without getting torn apart on a somewhat regular basis. Likewise, you wouldn't be able to combine Makelele/Mascherano with another defensive midfielder or you simply wouldn't have enough creativity in the midfield (think France at the Euro's). Whereas Carrick has proven able to do both these jobs EFFECTIVELY.

Whatever happened to the other thread?? Anyways Glory Glory Man U.

chika98:

Whatever happened to the other thread?? Anyways Glory Glory Manchester United.

You are also a United fan??
Cheese n Rice!!!!

Yeah. My love for Man U goes waaay back. I played for pepsi club in naija way back in the day

chika98:

Yeah. My love for Manchester United goes waaay back. I played for pepsi club in naija way back in the day

Played football??
Interesting gists from Chika98.
What else have u done??

The likes of Clichy, Sagna, Almunia, Diaby, Wayne Bridge, Alex, Riera, Pepe Reina are all good in their respective positions, yet how many caps have they won for their countries.

The people you mentioned had players better than them in their position.

Clichy has Evra, Almunia and reina have casillas, Wayne Bridge has Ashley Cole, Riera has Iniesta and David Silva so they wont get time You claim Carrick is the best in his position for England how come he has 14 caps?

Fabregas is good, yet he hardly starts for spain. Fabiano was not reckoned with in Brazil until recently. How about Elber, Ailton and even Germany's Brazilian Gomez(that guy reminds me of Victur Ijeh), how many caps did they win for their country?

Elber, Ailton had Ronaldo and Rivaldo ahead of them who are obviously better. Which Brazilian Gomez are you talking about? Get your facts right pls!!!

@ Sauron,
Fergie Tells Ballack: Be My Skipper
Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to offer Michael Ballack the Manchester United captaincy to ensure he wins the race to sign the German midfielder.

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=271920&page=1

Fergie offered Ballack United captaincy but Ballack rejected it for more money at Chelsea!!!!!

Michael Carrick: Gave the ball away too often in the middle and missed a glorious chance to put United 2-0 up in 35th minute. 6

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/manchester-united/2008/05/22/champions-league-final-man-utd-player-ratings-115875-20425084/

Carrick was rated the worst man Utd player in Moscow maybe Dayokanu wrote the article

Michael Ballack
Once again was behind many of Chelsea's attacking drives. Might have helped himself to a long-range goal. 8

Michael Carrick
Quietly linked up play in midfield. Should have scored after Cech had saved Tevez’s shot. Took his spot-kick in the shoot-out with aplomb. 7

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2301192/Champions-League-final-Chelsea-ratings.html

Ballack was the best player on the field for the Telegraph

~Sauron~:

Played football??
Interesting gists from Chika98.
What else have u done??

That's about it. Sometimes i wish i pursued that. Maybe if i did. . I would been playing for the US national team now

chika98:

That's about it. Sometimes i wish i pursued that. Maybe if i did. . I would been playing for the US national team now

U can still play footie. . . . . .The skills don't run dry.
Dust your boots, find your shin-pad and get on the pitch.
U could be the next Mia Hamm.

@ Dayokanu,

That was when the whole world thunk Ballack would set the league ablaze.
To be honest, i also felt Ballack and Sheva would make Chelsea untouchable until Mourinho cut em down to their sizes.
Have u forgotten Jose didn't even have Ballack on his UCL list until Avram Grant rescued his career.
Beckenbauer was livid that Ballack chose the wrong club and reh reh reh.

On the stupid ratings u are hollering about. . . . .Those peops are the boring London media who still think Lampard is better than Iniesta and Terry is better than Nesta.
Only an idiot would feel Carrick was the worst United player on the day when Rooney was shambolic.
What about Michael Essien who was found wanting time n time again and Drogba who wasn't given a chance to kick the ball??

Nahh. I hope to live that dream through my kids. jk

chika98:

Nahh. I hope to live that dream through my kids. jk

So sad!!!
U should be representing Naija's under 17 now in New Zealand.

Drogba was given a 5 by Telegraph and Essien 6 were rated lower than Carrick.

How come I have not seen any media that supports your view on carrick and the UCL final.

Stop distorting facts!!! Mourinho dropped Ballack because he was injured and would not be fit till December.

Gimme a site that rated Carrick better than Ballack in the CL final even if its Old Trafford based.

~Sauron~:

So sad!!!
U should be representing Naija's under 17 now in New Zealand.

Under 17 indeed.

dayokanu:

Drogba was given a 5 by Telegraph and Essien 6 were rated lower than Carrick.

How come I have not seen any media that supports your view on carrick and the UCL final.

Stop distorting facts!!! Mourinho dropped Ballack because he was injured and would not be fit till December.

Gimme a site that rated Carrick better than Ballack in the CL final even if its Old Trafford based.

Why would he drop Ballack because of injury??
Of course he had to come up with an excuse but the real mccoy was Ballack's incompetence at Chelsea.
He couldn't even nail a shirt in Chelsea. . . . . .Something Carrick was doing with ease in Man Utd.

chika98:

Under 17 indeed.

Under 20??

~Sauron~:

Under 20??

Thanks for the compliment.

chika98:

Thanks for the compliment.

The Falcons then.

Ballack had a surgery and he could not play till the knockout stage.

Chelsea rejuvenation coincided with Ballacks return from Injury. Are you still hurting from the way he schooled your players at Stanford Bridge?

dayokanu:

Ballack had a surgery and he could not play till the knockout stage.

Chelsea rejuvenation coincided with Ballacks return from Injury. Are you still hurting from the way he schooled your players at Stanford Bridge?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/22/championsleague.chelsea1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/22/manchesterunited.championsleague1

Those are the ratings u require and we all know GU Sports is the best in Europe(if not in the whole wide world).

Michael Carrick — 7

Always composed on the ball, the England international picked out his passes at will for a while but was gradually squeezed out by Chelsea’s muscular midfielders.

http://www.footytube.com/2008/05/22/champions-league-final-player-ratings/

Carrick - 5.5: Started well, but practically vanished after the 30-minute mark - something United paid a heavy price for. Lost Frank Lampard for Chelsea's goal, and was overrun for much of the second half. Wasteful with his "killer" passes.

Ballack - 6.5: A mixed bag: the occasional fine through ball or piece of buildup play, but found wanting otherwise. Didn't dominate in the way that he should have done, and got far too many of his shots off target

http://flavianpatrao..com/2008/05/player-ratingschampions-league-final.html

These are international sites. The best UK site is BBC not Guardian

BBC Sports are better than Guardian Sports??
Dayo, u should be shot for this blasphemy.

GU Sports all the way.
With morons like Alan Hansen, Gary Linekar and Lawrenson??
You have just made the heresy of the millennium and we have only gone just 8 years.
Comparing TV pundits to Footie journalists is not a wise thing to do. . . . . .U need to change, bruv!!!

heyy Sauron
ive told u not to let dayo enter our thread with his world class shitz

nyways, Dayo, Carrick is better than Jenas,Obi, Coker, at par with Barry n Hargo
Ballack is a waste product. Football with no end result is a curse!!!

Hey guys,

Here again to disturb your peace . . .

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-191518.608.html

Glory! Glory!! Glory!!! united

So sauron and dayokanu are still battling it out here. . .

Nice one. . .

I won't go into who is a better player. Not my style. I judge
players on how important they are for their sides.

Carrick is more important to Utd than Ballack is to Chelsea  

So sauron and dayokanu are still battling it out here. . .

Nice one. . .

I won't go into who is a better player. Not my style. I judge
players on how important they are for their sides.

Carrick is more important to Utd than Ballack is to Chelsea

gbam!!!

Dayo would never agree and we all know that? A player isnt good if his team cant feel his impact. Carricks import is well known in the united team but the likes of Lampard, Essien and even Mikel have dwarfed Ballack so what are we talking about. If Ballack cant fit into Chelsea,then he cant near Man U's starting eleven except there are abundance of injuries in the team.

However, i will like to know if there is any Bayern midfielder who is at par with Carrick or is an inch better than him.

Besides, dayo, what has been the impact of BM in Europe since it last won the UCL 7 years back? They have been pretty non-existent.

My dream pairing during the knock out stages of the UCL is to see MU face BM and lets settle this once and for all.

akinalabi:

So sauron and dayokanu are still battling it out here. . .

Nice one. . .

I won't go into who is a better player. Not my style. I judge
players on how important they are for their sides.

Carrick is more important to Utd than Ballack is to Chelsea  

Akinalabi, where have u been??

Of course, Carrick is more important to Man Utd than Ballack is to Chelsea.
Carrick is an amazing player. He's a better tackler but his real defensive ability is in diverting play away from his defence i.e. excellent positional sense. This is even more effective than having someone like Mascherano(Pitbull) in your side.

I remember Guardiola's Barca and Yaya Toure being told to run less . . . . .
"Busting your guts can be a red herring. The key to football, Guardiola insists, is positioning" which Carrick displays more often than not.
Carrick can play 38 league games without copping a single yellow card with the way he reads the game.

pls people
will Rooney n RIO be fit for Villa?
abeg o, we need 'em for that game.
Villa park is not gonna be easy this season. Those guyz mean biz

tkb417:

please people
will Rooney n RIO be fit for Villa?
abeg o, we need 'em for that game.
Villa park is not going to be easy this season. Those guys mean biz

I think they will be fit.

Now Scholesy wont be back again for the derby. Its better not to rush him back sha but he'll be ready for the tournament in December.