“Pass the f***ing ball forward,” Roy Keane screamed at Rio Ferdinand after he made his first pass in training for Manchester United.
In 2002, Ferdinand signed for the club for £30million from Leeds United. He had become the most expensive defender in the world for the second time , but was brought back down to earth on his first day at his new team. Ferdinand was taken aback by Keane’s fury, but later admitted the former United captain was right – the safe option wouldn’t be enough, United players had to take risks and the ball had to go forward when possible.
When people speak about Keane as a player, they reference his intensity and his incredible competitive spirit, overlooking his excellence on the ball. The Irishman was a brilliant passer, incisive and crisp, who rarely played a poor pass. Wayne Rooney said Keane was the best passer of the ball that he played with, which is high praise when one considers how good Paul Scholes was, and that Rooney only played with Keane for one full season.
Carrick didn’t get to play with Keane, and while he could never match his predecessor for impact at Old Trafford, the midfielders often chose similar passes, and both were effective and intelligent on the ball.
There were no Hollywood passes, but the ball went forward when the pass was on, they got defenders and midfielders turned, passed through the lines and brought teammates into play.
Scott McTominay is light years away from matching the feats of either players at Old Trafford, and it will be no shame if he doesn’t achieve even a fraction of what Keane and Carrick did. Keane was a once in a generation footballer, the driving force of United’s best team. Carrick has at the heart of United’s midfield for over a decade, and will be missed by the team when he retires.
It also remains to be seen if McTominay is the next Darren Fletcher, a valuable United squad player who graduated from the club’s academy, or the next Luke Chadwick, a United academy player who had a brief spell in the first team before moving on.
But McTominay did play a pass on Sunday in the win over Chelsea which could have come straight from the repertoire of past United midfielders, and it was exactly the type of pass United midfielders should play. It led to Romelu Lukaku crossing for Jesse Lingard to score and make it 2-1.
Match of the Day 2 pundit Alan Shearer highlighted the pass on Sunday night, praising McTominay for his vision, positivity and execution, noting that the young midfielder ignored the safer options to his left and his right and opted against playing the easy pass.
Shearer claimed that it was the type of pass Carrick would play, and he was right. It was also evidence of McTominay’s growing confidence, after some sticky moments earlier in the match.
Even if the pass had not led to a goal, it was still the right pass to play, as it brought the best out of Lukaku. The Belgian striker has received a lot of criticism in recent weeks and months, and sometimes it has been justified. He has been isolated at times, and left to feed off scraps. But he also hasn’t always made the most of the service he has received, with his first-touch often letting him down.
But he played very well on Sunday, scoring and setting up a goal, and this was the type of pass that is perfect for his strengths as a footballer. The ball was clipped into space for him to run onto, which got Chelsea’s defence and midfield turned and moving towards their own goal. If McTominay plays the safe pass to Antonio Valencia on his right-hand side, then the opportunity to get Chelsea turned is gone. If the ball is passed into Lukaku’s feet, then it most likely gets lost and the attack breaks down.
He has a point https://t.co/fMpgHSXAwW
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 25, 2018
McTominay showed attacking intent with his adventurous pass, and a willingness to take a risk. These are qualities Keane valued and demanded, which Carrick displayed throughout his career, and they are qualities that have often been lacking at United since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. The team have often been safe and unadventurous in possession over the past few seasons. This may be the legacy of David Moyes’ troubled reign, Louis van Gaal’s sterile domination or because of Mourinho’s inherent aversion to risk.
Whatever the reason, there hasn’t been enough passes like the one McTominay played for Lukaku on Sunday – passes with attacking intent, designed to bring the best out of teammates, rather than flashy Hollywood passes, or the safe sideways ball. As Keane said to Ferdinand in 2002, “it’s f***ing easy going sideways, pass it forward.” That positive intent was at the heart of what made United so successful in the past.
