"He's been terrific.
"I thought he ran the show for us against Watford on Wednesday night and his performance in the Arsenal game two weeks ago was probably one of the best midfield displays of the season
"He's improving all the time and he's getting stronger physically. He used to be a rakish young man, tall and lanky, but he's developed now that he's in his mid-20s. He's shown good maturity and what we have when we talk about Michael Carrick is an absolutely sensational passer of the ball.
"I don't think the supporters ever questioned him but I know there were things in the media: can he head the ball? can he tackle? can he defend? All that nonsense. Maybe because we paid [an initial] £14m people were expecting him to score 30 goals a season or something like that. But we're absolutely delighted with him. You pick a player for what he can do rather than what he can't do."