When you’re the Captain of a team, in any sport, chances are you’re a starter. Or at the very least, a bench player who still plays significant minutes. For Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick, such is not the case.
If you’re the first summer transfer window signing for a giant, major brand name club, you should make the team sheet at least. Such is not the case with Victor Lindelof, who at close to £30 million in transfer fee, is really a very expensive player to not even be an available substitute.
Neither made the 18 man roster for United’s 2-0 win at home over Leicester City today, and Manager Jose Mourinho used the managerial comments in the game program to give a quasi-apology to his players who aren’t even making the list of those who get to dress for the game.
Mourinho wrote: “It might be easy for people to praise the ones who have done so well in the opening games of the season, but I prefer to praise the amazing professionals who are not playing.
“They have not played the minutes they would have liked so far but they are all being very patient and waiting for their opportunity to become important for the team.”
Both will be a major part of the team this season, especially so when the calendar flips to the time of year in which we see multiple competitions all going on at the same time.
United will begin group play for UEFA Champions League soon, and then it won’t be long until the FA Cup and League Cup commence. They’ll need the full extent of their depth to cover all that workload. This will be especially true if the injury bug starts to bite.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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