The secret to Manchester United's revival? Michael Carrick - the perennial unsung hero

Roy Keane once said that you don’t contest a football match “in a reasonable state of mind”… and with good reason.

Things can get fraught out there, particularly in the middle of midfield, which is one reason why Michael Carrick, who yesterday presided over Manchester United’s six league win in a row, is so unusual.

It has been enough to win him five league titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, one European Cup and one Club World Cup, but never has he been so effective as now, aged 35.

A regular at West Ham from the age of 19, Carrick was always meant to be a good player. He first visited Old Trafford in January 2001 – returning a few weeks later for the famous Di Canio-Barthez game – but, the following season, he and Joe Cole were taught a harsh lesson in the intricacies of midfield brilliance by Keane, David Beckham and Paul Scholes, as United came to Upton Park and won 5-3.

A year later West Ham were relegated, but Carrick stayed, moving to Spurs only after a play-off final defeat to Crystal Palace. He was there for two seasons, joining United in the summer of 2006 and just as Glazernomics was starting to bite – few were speculating that if they could only add him and West Brom’s reserve keeper that would be enough to overtake Chelsea.

But Ronaldo’s explosion accelerated the development of Alex Ferguson’s third great side and United stormed to the title, playing the best football of the late-Fergie era.

Carrick had not made a particularly auspicious start, not picked to start the first two games and then dropped for the sixth, a defeat at home to Arsenal. That did not happen again: the highlight of his season being the two belting goals scored in a 7-1 Champions League win over Roma (that overall performance being one of the finest in recent United history).

But the team were eliminated in the last four, injuries forcing them to take on AC Milan with a makeshift defence and sparing Athens a final meeting with Liverpool that would’ve made Peloponnesian War look like a parkland walk.

Aware that a tired side had limped over the line, that summer Ferguson reinforced his squad. He added Nani on the wing and Carlos Tévez up front, along with Anderson and Owen Hargreaves in midfield, a pairing that worked well in the early part of the season. But come the end of it, it was Carrick who had played most, and United were champions of both England and Europe.

Even so, not everyone was impressed. Sometimes it seemed like he simply had the best seat in the house from which to enjoy Paul Scholes, standing off and watching as the game was organised around him. This was not behaviour associated with United midfielders; the 24-year line which ran from Bryan Robson through Paul Ince to Roy Keane saw games and seasons dominated by the will and skill of a single individual. They were the standard, and Carrick was not up to it.

Nonetheless, it has always been the case that to deny his quality is to not understand football – which explains why he has only 34 England caps. It is just that where his predecessors decided who won games, he merely helps, a complementary rather than definitive player, the facilitator's facilitator.

Carrick's most obvious weakness is also a strength. Because he doesn’t charge about like a psychopath, his team-mates know where to find him and when they will be saved by him. He may not be similar to Keane in temperament, but he nonetheless succeeded him as United’s ball-winner, an excellent tackler despite doing very little tackling. He knows when to jockey and when to engage, anticipating where the ball will end up before pinching it off toes; not as much fun as actual bodily harm, but effective nonetheless.

And he is also similar to Keane in what he does with the ball, protecting it by manipulating foot and body around it while rarely taking more than two touches, always keeping things moving and looking to go forward. His passes to feet are imaginative and sharp, and he is adept off both sides, at any range and gradient; he makes the players around him play better.

Which makes it all the more surprising that he was largely ignored in the early part of this season. Though he occasionally struggles for puff and pace, his direct style and competitive nous is precisely what Jose Mourinho is into, all the more so given a squad struggling to establish an identity.

In that period, though, they did win 4-1 in Europe – thanks in significant part to Carrick – so, with all other options discarded, in he came. Since then, United have won nine and drawn three, scoring 37 and conceding 10, and while his presence is not the sole reason for the improvement, he has been central to it.

Were Mourinho not Mourinho, he would surely be wondering how the league would look had Carrick been selected from the outset. Because Carrick is now doing all the things he always did, but with greater authority – not simply passing and moving, but telling others where to pass and move.

It’s still not "hard to believe it’s not Scholes", to quote the song belatedly bestowed on him because nothing rhymes with “Carrick” apart from “orange”, but he is controlling games in a way he never did at his physical peak.

It is no coincidence that, for the first time in his United career, he is playing in a proper midfield. For years, Alex Ferguson worked around it, relying on Scholes, then relying on Scholes again, and signing no one to play the position between Hargreaves in 2007 and Nick Powell in 2012.

On the other hand, Carrick now plays alongside two generals with reliable feet, keen minds and good engines, while there is also pace out wide and a target up front. His every quality is catered for.

Against West Ham he was the best of bad bunch in the first half, supplying a useful foot-in here and a perceptive pass there. Then, on 35 minutes, he caressed a delicious ball wide to Henrikh Mkhitaryan, whose cross gave Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard the chance to augment their already impressive portfolios of easy chances hilariously missed. They duly did, and the teams came in with the score goalless.

So, with West Ham down to ten men, Mourinho intervened, moving Carrick to centre-back and introducing Juan Mata, enterprise which directly contributed to a United win for the second game in a row. But it was not until Marcus Rashford arrived that things really changed. Playing on the wing – a position Mourinho noted that he needed coaching in prior to repeatedly picking him in it – he played like someone who had been coached, terrorising Havard Nordtveit and creating the opening goal, thanks, of course, to a lovely pass lifted out to him by Carrick.

Shortly afterwards he was back in midfield, dispensing possession as United eased to victory, and at full-time he had completed ten more passes than any other player on the pitch.

With Reading visiting Old Trafford on Saturday, Carrick can look forward to some time off. He has earned it.