Carrick puts his foot in it: United midfielder angers England boss

04 June 2009 07:39
Michael Carrick may have harmed his chances of breaking into the England team on a more regular basis after leaving it so late to inform Fabio Capello and his staff of a toe injury. The Manchester United midfielder struggled through the Champions League final in Rome last week with the injury but it was only last Friday, Sportsmail understands, that the Football Association knew there was a problem. That is understood to have disappointed Capello when Carrick knew the previous Sunday that he was included in the Italian's plans for the World Cup qualifiers here in Kazakhstan and at home to Andorra next Wednesday. Capello wants his players to recognise their responsibilities, show a real commitment to the cause, and while it would have been down to United's medical staff to contact their FA counterparts, the England manager is said to be unhappy about the situation. The FA certainly knew by Saturday that Carrick was struggling but still made him report to the team hotel on Sunday before sending him for an examination. It was only after the scan on his toe that he was then sent home and James Milner promoted from the Under 21 squad. Carrick has not featured that prominently with England. He has not started a competitive game under Capello - his last start came in the European Championship qualifier in Croatia in October 2006 - and this, added to his absence from last year's end-of-season friendlies against the USA and Trinidad and Tobago - could further delay his return to the competitive team. Capello and his squad arrived here last night with the Italian still considering his selection options. In training so far this week he has looked closely at a 4-2-3-1 formation that sees Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry in midfield behind a three of Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott with Emile Heskey leading the attack.

Source: Daily_Mail