Michael Carrick Berburu Gelandang Baru untuk Manchester United

Manajer tetap Manchester United Michael Carrick membidik rekrutmen gelandang baru pada bursa transfer musim panas untuk menggantikan posisi Casemiro dan menjadi rekan duet Kobbie Mainoo di lini tengah.

Klub telah mengalokasikan investasi besar demi mendatangkan penerus Casemiro, setelah pemain asal Brasil tersebut melakoni penampilan terakhirnya bersama United pada pekan lalu. Beberapa nama seperti Elliot Anderson, Aurelien Tchouameni, Sandro Tonali, hingga Carlos Baleba kini masuk dalam daftar buruan Setan Merah.

Mainoo tercatat selalu menjadi starter dalam setiap pertandingan Liga Primer Inggris kecuali saat absen akibat cedera sejak Carrick memimpin tim, dan sang pemain muda baru saja menandatangani kontrak baru berdurasi lima tahun. Menjelang laga pamungkas musim ini melawan Brighton, Carrick memberikan pandangannya mengenai urgensi pencarian mitra yang tepat bagi Mainoo.

"I mean, there's a balance," respon Carrick saat diwawancarai menjelang pertandingan tersebut.

Carrick menilai mendatangkan pemain baru bukan sekadar demi satu individu, melainkan tentang kecocokan dan keseimbangan seluruh skuad agar mampu menghadapi padatnya kompetisi di berbagai ajang resmi.

"There's a balance as a football club, because you're not necessarily, whenever it is, bringing a player in just to play with one player. I think it's about fitting the squad, the balance of the squad, being able to cope with playing here in different competitions for so many games," ujar Carrick.

Mantan gelandang United itu juga memuji fleksibilitas Mainoo yang berkembang pesat selama empat hingga lima bulan terakhir, sehingga mempermudah klub dalam merekrut pemain baru yang dapat beradaptasi dengannya.

"So it's not necessarily… I'm talking quite broad here in general. With any player, you're not just bringing them just to play with one player, but certainly there's a dynamic and there's a balance that needs to be had," kata Carrick.

Carrick menegaskan bahwa perkembangan performa tersebut merupakan hasil kerja keras sang pemain muda itu sendiri di lapangan.

"The beauty about Kobbie is that he can do so many things well, and I think he's proven that, and he's evolved so much in the four or five months that I've seen his progress. And that's him," tutur Carrick.

Fleksibilitas taktik Mainoo dinilai menjadi keuntungan besar bagi strategi transfer klub ke depan.

"I'm not taking the credit for that. He's done that himself, but I think he's shown that he can do so many things. So it makes bringing players in to play with a player like Kobbie a little bit easier when he can adapt himself, and I think he's adapted over time." cetus Carrick.

Ketika berbicara mengenai tekanan di jendela transfer mendatang, Carrick menganggap dinamika tersebut sebagai hal yang lumrah terjadi di setiap klub sepak bola yang ingin terus melangkah maju.

"I think the beauty of the next transfer window, for everybody, it's always the biggest thing in the world, and the most important transfer window of all time, for every club, I think," ungkap Carrick.

Ia mengakui bahwa finis di liga musim ini menunjukkan adanya ruang evaluasi yang harus segera dibenahi oleh manajemen.

"That's just the nature of how it's been created, to be honest, and I think, again, as a football club, you want to keep moving forward, we certainly do. As a football club, we want to keep moving forward," lanjut Carrick.

Carrick menambahkan bahwa kepergian beberapa pemain pilar membuat aktivitas belanja pemain menjadi sangat krusial bagi masa depan tim.

"I think it's acknowledged we're at this stage, and the dynamics and the balance of the direction we're at, where we've ended up getting to, and finishing in the league, there's obviously work to do," sebut Carrick.

Meskipun demikian, ia memandang bursa transfer kali ini sama pentingnya dengan periode-periode sebelumnya untuk memaksimalkan potensi klub.

"It's quite obvious, with certain players leaving, there's a bit of work to do, but it's not any more important this one than the last one, it's what's ahead of us as a football club to try and make the most of." tegas Carrick.

Dilansir dari konferensi pers pra-pertandingan oleh thepeoplesperson.com, Carrick yang sempat berbicara dengan status manajer interim sebelum pengumuman resminya, juga melontarkan pujian bagi striker Brighton, Danny Welbeck.

"I’m delighted with him. He scored against us too many times. He’s obviously been here, knowing him from so young. He’s a fantastic— I still call him a lad. He’s an old man now, but he makes me feel old, the fact that he’s that age." pungkas Carrick mengenai mantan penyerang United tersebut.

Welbeck yang kini menginjak usia 35 tahun dipuji karena memiliki mentalitas dan sikap profesional yang luar biasa untuk tetap bersaing di level tertinggi sepak bola Inggris.

"Baginya, untuk tetap bermain sebaik itu di usia tersebut menunjukkan pola pikir, mentalitas, dan sikapnya," tambah Carrick seperti dikutip dari thepeoplesperson.com.

Terkait agenda pribadinya di musim panas, Carrick sempat berseloroh bahwa ujian sekolah anak-anaknya menjadi alasan utama dirinya belum bisa memesan tiket liburan dalam waktu dekat.

"It’s the kids’ exams that are getting in the way at the moment," tawa Carrick saat merespons pertanyaan jurnalis mengenai rencana liburannya.

Selain kehilangan kualitas teknis Casemiro, United juga kehilangan sosok pemimpin di ruang ganti, walau Carrick mengakui adanya pertumbuhan kedewasaan dari para pemain muda.

"For sure I’ve seen development, a lot of development in different ways, and some of it you see on the pitch, some of it it’s obvious it’s there performance-wise, or it’s there’s a technical part of it, and the players are improving in that regard. But I think I’ve said it before again, sometimes it’s the feeling comfortable in the best way of being here and knowing what it feels like to play here and having an element of success, having an element of a few challenges and you come through it and you understand what it takes to get through it." jelas Carrick.

Proses melewati berbagai tantangan tersebut dinilai berhasil memunculkan karakter dan kepribadian asli dari para pemain di dalam skuad saat ini.

"I think that as much as anything, and then you can grow and you can your character and your personality comes out even more. I’ve seen that for some of the younger players, and actually not just the younger players, some you can see, everyone that little bit more and growing when you’re getting good results or" tandas Carrick menutu p perbincangan mengenai perkembangan mental tim.