Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson claims Michael Carrick holds key to club's success The refereeing is also of such a standard now that you can hardly tackle anyone, so that sort of thing isn't the same issue as it used to be. Carrick can read the game and also play in front of the back four. If you look at the central midfielders in the Premier League, he can match up against any of them in terms of quality - the likes of (Luka) Modric, Yaya Toure, those are probably the best central midfielders and Gerrard. United's midfield options have improved during the summer following Anderson's return to fitness and the arrivals of Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell. Fletcher's insistence yesterday (Fri) that he is not considering retirement in his battle against colitis is backed by Ferguson's determination to give the 28-year-old time to recover fully, but the United manager believes that a fit Carrick is crucial this season. Ferguson said: "I think Carrick is the key to it. He did really well in second half of last season and I think he's going to be the key man. Scholes and Giggs will obviously play their part and Tom Cleverley hopefully, as well as Anderson if he keeps fit. They will all play a part but for me Carrick is the key player. But we do have an issue in central midfield, there is no doubt about that because getting a Scholes or a Carrick is very difficult these days. We have the boy Powell coming through but he is young and, although he is a very good talent, he will eventually be a midfield player. Carrick has always had slow starts (to a season). He denies this, he doesn't think that's true, but I do. By the time he gets to December he starts playing consistently well, but he had a really good end to last season, so he's the key to us. United play the second game of the summer tour today (Sat), against Ajax Cape Town in South Africa, before flying to Shanghai on Sunday. Despite ending last season empty-handed, and having suffered a group stage elimination from the Champions League, Ferguson insists that the current squad is good enough to win a fourth European Cup next May. "Last season (European disappointment) definitely won't happen next season, there is no chance of that," Ferguson said. We changed the team too much and we won't be doing that this season. We were careless. Is there another Champions League in this team? There is no doubt about that.