Spieleecke » pushing back the day of her death, knowing

Michael Carrick’s return to the Manchester United team for the win over Swansea has been hailed as the catalyst behind their improved performance. But what is it about the midfielder that makes him so important? Adam Bate examines the evidence… Its one thing to be 25-years-old, another thing to be 35-years-old. Thats the logic of things. But the only thing I can say is hes phenomenal. No doubts about it … I would love to play him every game but thats not possible … He started at Swansea and played very, very well.Jose Mourinhos explanation for Michael Carricks belated inclusion in his Premier League starting line-up for the 3-1 win at Swansea last time out was a little disingenuous. There had been multiple opportunities for the Manchester United manager to turn to Carrick earlier. Swansea 1-3 Manchester Utd Although United have won all six matches in which he has featured this season, the veteran midfielder struggled to make the squad in the early weeks of the season and was an unused substitute for the back-to-back defeats against Feyenoord and Watford in September.This was not because of careful game management. It was Mourinho searching for a longer-term solution to his midfield conundrum. But it seems there are still qualities that Carrick possesses that are absent elsewhere in the United squad. Qualities that help the team.Rio Ferdinand calls him the best passer at the club while Gary Neville, another old team-mate, once compared Carrick to a piano. Hes peaceful, hes calm, he brings composure to everyone else around him, said Neville. Thats important for young players. Carrick scored in the EFL Cup win over Northampton Town in September Only last year Wayne Rooney was enthusing about how Carrick turned around Englands friendly against Italy after coming on as a substitute by dictating the game and bringing control to the teams work. Mourinho has spoken of the balance that he provides.These are difficult qualities to measure and that makes them easy to dismiss. Carrick didnt score or assist a goal at Swansea, after all. He didnt make a tackle either. But even from such a small sample size this season, Carricks statistics do hint at what he brings to a team.He has made 112 passes in only 102 minutes of Premier League football this season with a completion rate of more than 96 per cent. In short, when Carricks on the pitch he passes the ball to a team-mate more regularly and with greater accuracy than anyone else. Man Utd midfielders 2016/17 Player Passes / 90 Player Passing accuracy Michael Carrick 98.8 Michael Carrick 96.55% Ander Herrera 69.9 Juan Mata 90.84% Paul Pogba 62.7 Marouane Fellaini 89.35% Juan Mata 56.3 Ander Herrera 87.45% Marouane Fellaini 55.7 Paul Pogba 86.11% But its about more than keeping calm and keeping hold of the ball. Its not just that hes circulating possession but the direction in which hes circulating it. Thats whats helping those around him. In particular, it could be crucial for record signing Paul Pogba.Mourinho knew he needed Pogbas dynamism - the second midfield player is how he describes that role of the runner rather than the passer in the middle of the park. But on the evidence of the early part of the season, getting him on the ball in the right areas is an issue.Carrick could be the man to change that. Mourinho has highlighted his big understanding of the game so perhaps its not merely a coincidence that he found Pogba eight times in his first Premier League appearance of the campaign as a late substitute against Leicester. Carrick and Pogba Michael Carrick has passed to Paul Pogba 25 times in only 102 minutes of Premier League action. By way of comparison, that meant that Carrick passed the ball to Pogba more times in a quarter of an hour than either Juan Mata or Ander Herrera did in the entire game. The Swansea game saw a continuation of this fledgling relationship.Carrick passed to Pogba 17 times at the Liberty Stadium, more than anyone else. As a result, hes averaging a pass to the Frenchman every four minutes so far this season - more than three times as often as Rooney, for example, has succeeded in getting the ball to him.Much has been made of how Pogba found his feet at Juventus alongside Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio. Their intelligent use of the ball helped him flourish. Thats been missing. Alarmingly, in the defeat to Manchester City, the man who supplied Pogba most often was David de Gea. Is it time for Jose Mourinho to turn to Carrick to help Uniteds midfield? With Carrick in the team, thats unlikely to happen again. As Mourinho puts it, hes a player who adds stability in our game and provides mental freedom for the other guys to be more offensive in their work as well. For United fans, this isnt a new realisation.It even worked briefly for Louis van Gaal. Carrick won the first seven matches he started last season, extending his total winning run to 11 when the wins over Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa and City were included from the previous 2014/15 campaign.That sequence of results in the spring of 2015 marked Uniteds best period under the Dutchman, one that only came to an end once Carrick picked up an injury just prior to the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea in the April. Winning without him is not a problem unique to Mourinho. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. The closest Van Gaal ever got to fluidity at Old Trafford was with that triumvirate of Carrick, Herrera and Marouane Fellaini. Perhaps that could yet be the template for the new manager with the not insignificant upgrade of subbing in Pogba for the burly Belgian.Mourinho knows it is not the answer he envisaged but nor can he afford to look too far ahead. Arsenal are the visitors on Saturday and picking the best team to win the match should surely be the only thing in his thoughts. That will mean Carrick.Its a pity you sometimes cannot stop the clock, said Mourinho earlier this month. Michael is such an important player and very difficult to replace. But the issue of finding a replacement is now a task for January at the earliest and, more likely, well beyond that. Man Utd vs Arsenal November 19, 2016, 11:30am Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass By then, the hope will be that Pogba is fully settled and this United side are playing with some confidence again. Carrick can help with that. He knows exactly what I can do, my strengths, he told Sky Sports earlier this season. I am not going to change my game now.Theres no need for that. The events of this season have only added to the suspicion that Carrick doing what Carrick does might be exactly what United had been missing. Also See: Herrera on life under Jose Mkhitaryan vows to impress Cheap Baseball Jerseys China . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Custom Baseball Jerseys . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. 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The Belgian has an incurable, degenerative spinal disease, sleeps only 10 minutes some nights, and in 2008 she signed euthanasia papers so she can decide when to end her own life.The 37-year-old Paralympian is prepared to die, but not now. Back home, newspapers have been reporting the wheelchair racer intends to kill herself after the Paralympics end next weekend.I think there is a great mistake about what the press told in Belgium, Vervoort said Sunday, speaking in English and surrounded by reporters wanting to hear her compelling story.This is totally out of the question, she added. When the day comes, when I have more bad days than good days -- I have my euthanasia papers. But the time is not there yet.This is Vervoorts last Paralympics. She won silver Saturday night in the T52 400 meters, adding to the gold and silver medals she won four years ago in London. Her last wheelchair race will be Saturday at 100 meters.Shes shown her will to live by tackling tough training, and its also helped keep her alive. But she has to give it up, as she has other things, as her body has broken down.Her pain is so severe at times that she loses consciousness, and she said the sight of her in pain has caused others to pass out.Its too hard for my body, Vervoort said. Each training Im suffering because of pain. Every race I train hard. Training and riding and doing competition are medicine for me. I push so hard -- to push literally all my fear and everything away.Vervoort is a strong advocate of the right to choose euthanasia, which is legal in Belgium. Like training hard, she said it gives her the control and puts my own life in my hands.Im really scared, but those (euthanasia) papers give me a lot of peace of mind because I know when its enough for me, I have those papers, she said.If I didnt have those papers, I think Id have done suicide already. I think there will be fewer suicides when every country has the law of euthanasia. ... I hope everybody sees that this is not murder, but it makes people livve longer.ddddddddddddVervoort said getting the papers was difficult, requiring examinations by several doctors who looked at her mental and physical state. She said its not like having the flu.You only get those papers when there is no way back, she said.As her body withers, she needs a helper to visit four times daily. She suffers from epileptic seizures, and had one in 2014 when she was cooking pasta and spilled boiling water over her legs. That resulted in a four-month hospital stay.A beloved Labrador named Zenn now stays with her, pawing her when a seizure is about to occur. Zenn also pulls her socks out of the sock drawer, and helps carry groceries home when Vervoort buys too much.When Im going to have an epileptic attack, she warns me one hour before, Vervoort said. I dont know how she feels it.Vervoort said she keeps pushing back the day of her death, knowing it could come anytime -- as it can for anyone. She said she can be pain-free one minute, and nearly pass out a few minutes later.You have to live day-by-day and enjoy the little moments, she said. Everybody tomorrow can have a car accident and die, or a heart attack and die. It can be tomorrow for everybody.Vervoort calls herself a crazy lady. She still hopes to fly in an F-16 fighter jet, ride in a rally car, and shes curating a museum of her life going back to at least 14 when she was diagnosed with her rare illness. She also gives inspirational speeches, has picked out a singer for her wake, and says everyone will drink champagne, and not be bored with coffee and cake.She wants to be remembered as the lady who was always laughing, always smiling.I feel different about death now than years ago, Vervoort said. For me I think death is something like they operate on you, you go to sleep and you never wake up. For me its something peaceful.---Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wade ' ' '