Alright. So, disregarding how piss poor Swansea have been, this first half just shows how important Carrick is to the kind of football our squad is suited for. I honestly believe that our success today directly stems from his role in the team today.

Unlike Fellaini, Herrera or Schneiderlin who's been played in Carrick's position, Carrick offers a safe and constant outlet in the defensive midfield. Both Herrera and Fellaini are agressors that we see close the opposition down far into their own half, and Schneiderlin doesn't offer the same skill or composure on the ball that Carrick does. What this means is that during our build up play or possession recycling, we have a man planted in a key position who we can trust to move the ball around intelligently.

Further, Carrick's role and ability to become the "3rd" defender, and drop between the central defenders, allow our wide defenders to play as wingbacks and offer the width that has been truly lacking from our game. This in turns allow our wingers to fulfill their role as strikers, and crowd the middle with out height, physicality and creativity, and it actually offers people like Zlatan and Rooney an outlet when they drop deep as we now have people in or near the box to receive passes.

In many ways, I think our problems are similar to what we see at Bara or Real, where players like Busquets or Casemiro are crucial to how they're set up to play. Going forward, I think we need to look for a way to exploit Carrick's role more - either with Carrick or with a replacement with the same skill set.