Michael Carrick Names Best Player He Has Ever Played With
Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has revealed the identity of the best player he has ever played with.
Carrick is retiring after this weekend's final Premier League game against Watford and the 36-year-old told ESPN FC that he has never played with a better player than Paul Scholes.
Carrick has made in excess of 450 appearances for Man Utd since joining the club back in 2006 and has won the Champions League and five Premier League titles along the way.
Individually, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2012/13 and picked up Man Utd's Players' Player of the Year award in the same season.
Despite sharing a dressing room at Old Trafford with some of the great names of football, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović, Carrick insisted that the ability Scholes had was 'something else'.
"I still think I'm just fortunate to have seen him train every day and having the best seat in the house, stood next to him passing the ball and seeing what he could do with it," he said.
"It was just outrageous how good he was. I could pick 10-15 players that I played with over the years, Ronaldo, Wazza [Rooney], Rio [Ferdinand], Giggsy, Gaz Nev, he was an unbelievable full-back, unbelievable captain. But Scholesy just nicks it."
Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties to lift the Champions League trophy in Moscow ten years ago and Carrick said he 'wouldn't wish it on anyone' to go through the feeling he had before the shootout.
"The feeling before that, you wouldn't wish it on anyone. It's hard enough watching [penalties] because you're on edge. But having to actually get yourself in the frame of mind to take one, in the back of your mind knowing the consequences if you miss, it's a tough place to be."
