Como and Manchester United squad values add to scrutiny of Carrick

Transfermarkt values Manchester United’s squad at €928.80m, compared with €568.15m for Como, ahead of their Champions League meeting. The gap offers one point of comparison before a fixture whose significance extends beyond estimated squad values: attention is also on Michael Carrick’s standing and his long-term prospects. Before the match, a general view of the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium showed Como’s ground ready to host the game.

The forecast adds another detail to the build-up: conditions in Como are expected to be very damp in the evening, while early pictures from the ground suggested the afternoon had already been rainy. But it is the managers, and Carrick’s position, that have shaped most of the pre-match discussion. Comparisons with Cesc Fabregas have followed Carrick for years, and this meeting brings that contrast between the two men back into focus.

The teams’ reported results provide another comparison. In the league this season, Como have lost only once, while Manchester United have won only once. In the Champions League, both sides have the same record after their first two fixtures: one win and one defeat. Those figures add context to the meeting without answering the question that has followed Carrick into the build-up: what the match could mean for perceptions of him and his chances of staying in the job long term.

The subject dominated Carrick’s pre-match press conference. He said: “I don’t need any reassurance. It’s pretty clear. I know the role, I know my responsibilities. I don’t need anyone else to tell me whether it’s going well or when it needs to be better. There’s not much I can add. I know we have to win games for everything to flow and fall into place.” Questions about Carrick’s future also dominated Fabregas’s press conference. One response on the subject was: “As you can understand, I won’t answer that question because I don’t think it’s a very nice question.” Another statement stressed the respect owed to “a great footballer and manager like Michael Carrick”, at the helm of a Manchester United side described as wonderful.

The comparison stretches back to October 2009, when David Lacey praised Fabregas’s consistency, writing that “Bergkamp did have off days, whereas Fabregas just has the odd day off”. In the same piece, Carrick was called a “gifted water carrier”. On the field, Matthijs de Ligt returns to the Manchester United side for his first appearance since November last year; Carrick has made four changes to the team. The evening thus brings together debate about squad values, recent results and a more personal question about the manager’s future.