article: It's such a crying shame that only now are people starting to realise what a vital player Michael Carrick is to England. When captain Wayne Rooney said after the draw in Italy on Tuesday that Carrick was the 'best player on the pitch by a mile', and that he 'dictated the game' he summed up what England have been missing since he signed for Manchester United in 2006. Successive England managers kept beating themselves up trying to solve the Lampard/Gerrard conundrum in midfield, but ironically it was a Scot who presented the answer to them. Michael Carrick gets ahead of Italy striker Ciro Immobile during Tuesday night's friendly in Turin . Carrick applauds the travelling England supporters in Turin after winning his 33rd cap against Italy . For all Carrick's achievements with Manchester United, he has been consistently overlooked by England . Sir Alex Ferguson signed Carrick for £18million, trusted him in midfield, and United dominated domestically and even became Champions of Europe in an era when Guardiola, Messi and Barcelona were taking their place in history as one of the greatest ever club sides. That's why I firmly believe that had Michael Carrick been a regular in England's midfield for the past 10 years, we would have won a major tournament in that time. You can disagree, but you cannot prove me wrong. Carrick has a 100 per cent record with England at the World Cup. He's only ever played in one game at the tournament, and England won it 1-0 against Ecuador in the round of 16 in 2006. He's a World Cup Invincible. Sven Goran Eriksson dropped him for the next game, the quarter-final against Portugal, and England went out. What followed is inexplicable: from October 2006 through to September 2012 Michael Carrick didn't play a single meaningful competitive game for England. Sir Alex Ferguson realised the abilities that Carrick could bring to his Manchester United team . Carrick gets stuck in to Lionel Messi during the 2009 Champions League final with Barcelona in Rome . Carrick has played in 377 matches for Manchester United in his nine seasons with the club . Carrick (right) has lifted the Premier League trophy on five occasions at Old Trafford . Premier League (5): 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13 . Football League Cup (1): 2009-10 . FA Community Shield (5): 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013 . UEFA Champions League (1): 2007-08 . FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008 . In that same time period Carrick won four Premier League titles, a Champions League, and played in two other Champions League finals. England lumbered and stumbled on with the likes of Jermaine Jenas (21 caps), Scott Parker (18) and Gareth Barry (an incredible 53) all lucky to get the number of caps they did. Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the greatest manager of all time, picked Carrick. But Steve McLaren and Fabio Capello did not. Who called it right? Fergie kept winning trophies, but McLaren failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships, while Capello's 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa was lifeless . Worse still, Capello took Carrick to that tournament, but then didn't give him a single minute on the pitch. All I remember of England in South Africa was that we simply could not keep the ball. We couldn't pass to each other. That's what Carrick brings to a team. Capello didn't even take time to sit down and explain to Carrick why he was being left out despite the shambles being played out by the players he did pick. Carrick celebrates his recent goal for Man United against Tottenham at Old Trafford . Carrick celebrates with Wayne Rooney after scoring a vital goal for United at Wigan in May 2009 . Carrick hasn't scored too many goals during his career but his stunner against Roma in 2007 stands out . Carrick's goal set United on their way to a 7-1 victory that registers amongst their great European nights . Carrick must have been wondering why he'd bothered leaving his wife and newborn son to go to the other side of the world and watch that horrible mess. Gary Neville told me this about Carrick: 'The players that play with him love him, and Sir Alex has picked him in probably 95 per cent of games during the most successful period of Manchester United's history. 'What he does isn't 'wow', it's largely unseen stuff, but a lot of midfielders don't do it.' Carrick is capable of the spectacular, take a look at this pass against Chelsea from 2013. In Turin on Tuesday, Ross Barkley and Andros Townsend caught the eye with their impact, but they were afforded the freedom to run with the ball, take risks and be adventurous because Carrick was so disciplined behind them. Critics continue with their tired old nonsense about how he isn't quick enough, and he's not spectacular, or he doesn't score goals. These criticisms are SO English, the kind of dinosaur thinking that's been holding our game back all these years. Two years ago I went to United's training ground to interview Carrick. I asked him about the job he does for the team, his role. Carrick celebrates with Robin van Persie (left) and Adnan Januzaj after scoring against Fulham last season . Carrick has won five Premier League titles at Manchester United - the last of which came in 2013 . Carrick jumps for joy after Robin van Persie scored a last-minute free-kick at Manchester City in 2012 . Carrick was never able to convince England manager Fabio Capello to give him a regular starting berth . Carrick was handed his England debut back in 2001 when Mexico were beaten 4-0 at Pride Park in Derby . Carrick shadows Marco Verratti during England's ill-fated European Championship quarter-final in 2012 . He put it very simply: 'I'm just there to help the defence and act as extra cover for them really, to stop the supply into opposition front players. 'At the same time to service our attackers and wide men; it's my job to keep the flow of service as much as possible to them and let them create and score goals.' A few weeks later he won his fifth title in seven years at Old Trafford. Not bad for someone who is criticised for not being spectacular. His best performance in an England shirt came in Berlin in 2008 when England won 2-1. He was man of the match and controlled the midfield. That was a few months after Germany had reached the European Championship final. Forget player-for-player comparisons for a moment and look at the role he plays in the team. It's similar to what Sergio Busquets did for Spain when they won a World Cup and a European Championship. And before him Marcos Senna did the same job in that Spain midfield. Carrick's finest hour came in 2008 as England defeated Germany 2-1 in Berlin's Olympiastadion . Carrick performs a similar role to Spain's holding midfielder Sergio Busquets . Marcos Senna has also performed the Carrick role for the Spanish team with great success . Carrick may not quite be at the level of Italy's Andrea Pirlo but he's the closest England have got . Those two winners have over 100 caps between them, and only three goals. It wasn't their job to score. Neither were quick, but they didn't need to be. In that position they read the game, looked after the ball, and got the team going the other way. These players are not famous for their tackling prowess either. They usually get to the ball before they need to dive into a challenge. And then there's Andrea Pirlo. It would be hard to make a case to say Carrick is as good as Pirlo, but he is certainly the closest this country can offer. Which is why watching England struggle to deal with him at the last World Cup made Roy Hodgson's decision to leave Carrick at home bewildering. It looks like Hodgson has come to his senses on that one. What a shame previous England managers couldn't see what Sir Alex Ferguson was showing them. It wasn't just Fergie who could see it: at the end of the 2012-13 season Arsene Wenger said Carrick was his player of the year: 'He is a quality passer. He could play for Barcelona, he would be perfectly suited to their game. Louis van Gaal has quickly come to appreciate Carrick since arriving at Manchester United . Carrick's performances against Arsenal have drawn praise from the Gunners boss Arsene Wenger . 'I think Carrick is an underrated player in England and sometimes not only should the goalscorer be rewarded but also the real players at the heart of the game.' And Louis van Gaal has learned in a short space of time at Old Trafford just how important Carrick is. Have a look at United's season – the better runs for the team have come when Carrick has been fit. Van Gaal said recently: 'Michael Carrick is more or less a trainer-coach. He is also willing to talk about shapes and systems.' Van Gaal has worked with some truly brilliant footballers in his career, that's high praise indeed for Carrick. On the pitch, in that key position in central midfield, Carrick has that football intelligence and spatial awareness that so few players possess. Sir Alex Ferguson made mistakes, but he didn't keep making the same mistake for seven successive seasons. While United were winning with him, England were losing without him. Would England have won the Euros, or a World Cup with Carrick in the team? I think so. I know for certain we would have had a much better chance.
highlights: Carrick made just his 33rd appearance for England in Italy on Tuesday .
  The midfielder has been overlooked by a succession of England managers .
  This is despite being the main man at Manchester United for years .
  Roy Hodgson seems to have realised the importance of Carrick .
  But England may have won a major tournament with him in the side .
prediction: player Michael Carrick is to England 
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