Tottenham Hotspur's Best XI Of The Decade: Michael Carrick

Tottenham Hotspur's Best XI of the Decade continues with our Defensive/Two-way midfielders. After some close voting, I'm pleased to welcome Michael Carrick to the squad.  Carrick joined Tottenham from West Ham United in 2004 for a fee of £3.5 million.

The England midfielder was often overlooked by Spurs manager Jacques Santini, which fueled speculation that Carrick was a player bought by Sporting Director Frank Arneson, not Santini. Once Martin Jol joined the Club Carrick became a regular starter. He went on to make 75 appearances for Spurs before being sold to Manchester United.

Carrick was excellent in his role as a deep-lying midfielder. His passing from deep was an excellent asset to the club and has only recently been replaced by Luka Modric and Tom Huddlestone. His passing ability was evidenced by his making more crosses and more passes than any other Tottenham player during the 2005-2006 season and being joint top (with Mido) in assists. His ability to dictate the play was far and away better than any other Tottenham midfielder at this position in the last decade.

Welcome to the squad Michael Carrick. We're going to need both your passing and defensive abilities in the middle of the park.