Michael Carrick Key to Man Utd's Champions League Hopes After Tottenham Display

Ever since taking over as manager of Manchester United in the summer, Louis van Gaal has been searching for his Juventus moment.

During his first season at Bayern Munich in 2009, it was in a Champion League group game in Turin that Van Gaal will tell you everything clicked into place. 

Bayern won 4-1, and a season that looked like it might never get going ended with a league and cup double and a Champions League final.

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The first half against Tottenham on Sunday was the closest he's come to recreating that December night from six years ago. And if it does turn out to be his Juventus moment at Old Trafford, then he'll have Michael Carrick to thank.

Carrick has spent his entire career under the radar. He's not a midfielder who goes box-to-box, crunches into tackles, creates lots of chances or scores lots of goals. 

And because of that, it's easy to conclude that he actually doesn't do very much at all. But those who watch him regularly know that couldn't be further from the truth.

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Tottenham on Sunday was one of the few games when it is easy to quantify what he contributed. 

First, he slid a pass through to Marouane Fellaini to give United the lead. Then he guided a header past Hugo Lloris to score a second. The game was effectively over inside 35 minutes when Wayne Rooney added a third.

It's easy to conclude that Carrick must have had a good game because he scored a goal and made another. But he did much more than that.

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Sat at the base of the midfield, he was United's metronome. He only had 55 touches of the ball in his 87 minutes on the pitch, not a huge amount for a central midfielder. 

But of those 55 touches, 50 were passes. There was barely a wasted touch as he moved the ball quickly to Juan Mata, Ashley Young, Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia.

For the first time in a long time, United looked to have that spark back. The ball zipped around between red shirts as Tottenham crumbled. A brief return to how it used to be.

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And it was no coincidence it was Carrick's first start since the end of January after recovering from a muscle injury. 

Van Gaal's job now is to make sure United maintain their form for the next nine games. Champions League qualification depends on it. Carrick was key in getting the run-in off to a perfect start against Tottenham. He will be again between now and the end of the season.