IN THE PORT OF AMSTERDAM

Last updated : 06 August 2006 By Ed

The Indie on Sunday:

Michael Carrick hobbled out of the Amsterdam ArenA on crutches as Manchester United's Premiership plans were thrown into disarray. Bringing the trophy home from the four-team tournament was little consolation for Sir Alex Ferguson.

On only his second appearance since completing an £18.6million move from Tottenham, Carrick lasted just 14 minutes before being helped off after sustaining what seemed to be a serious injury to his left ankle that could keep him out of the start of the season.

Ferguson said after the match: "It looks like he'll be out for a few weeks there's a lot of swelling and bleeding. It's a ligament to the front of the foot."

Carrick's injury is a severe setback to him and United, who are already awaiting a verdict on the dismissals of Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes in their match against Porto. Bans could follow as the referee, Ruud Bossen, has reported both red cards to the Dutch FA. Their English counterparts expect to be formally notified of the decisions tomorrow, triggering an automatic charge of violent conduct against both.

The real bonus from last night's match for United was the confidence shown by the young players that they were forced to bring in to cover for a string of injuries. Jonny Evans was flown in for the game and the 18-year-old defender, as well as the striker Giuseppe Rossi, performed impressively.

Sunday Times:

Manchester United won a trophy last night, though the 180 minutes they contested the Amsterdam Tournament may turn out to have been as costly to their preparations for the real season as victory was beneficial to morale.

United could be missing up to seven first-team players for the beginning of the Premiership season after their most celebrated summer recruit, Michael Carrick, became one more on a long list of possible absentees.

Five days after joining the club from Tottenham for £18.6m, Carrick limped off the field with barely a quarter of an hour gone in the 1-0 win against Ajax. The diagnosis is ligament damage to his left ankle. The duration of his recovery? "Difficult to say," said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. "It may be around three weeks. It's a blow for a young lad who's just come into the club."

Carrick joins all of Ferguson's preferred back four as doubts for the opening day of the Premiership campaign and he may need to add to those the casualties of the previous evening's controversies: Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney both face possible suspensions after their red cards against Porto on Friday. Ruud Bossen, the referee who dismissed Rooney and issued Scholes with two yellow cards, has included in his report both incidents, which the Dutch Football Associaton are now obliged to forward to the FA. But United can appeal against any penalty that carries over into the new domestic season and expect the FA to look sympathetically on the case of Rooney.

As for Carrick, he disappeared down the tunnel in discomfort and re-emerged after half-time on crutches. He had taken a heavy challenge to his left ankle from Kenneth Perez as he attempted to steer the ball away from the Ajax captain and became the second England international to limp off the ArenA pitch in just over 24 hours. Rio Ferdinand turned an ankle in the warm-up before the 3-1 win over Porto, although it is hoped he will be fit by the weekend. "The bruising's gone," said Ferguson of Ferdinand.

Sunday Telegraph:

An already calamitous weekend in Amsterdam took a turn for the worse for Manchester United last night when Michael Carrick sustained a serious looking ankle injury during a friendly against Ajax in the LG Amsterdam tournament last night.

Alex Ferguson's £18.6 million midfield signing from Spurs limped out of United's 1-0 victory in the 17th minute, having sprained his left ankle following a hefty tackle from Ajax's Kenneth Perez.

It was scant consolation for the manager that his team won the trophy after two wins and he confirmed afterwards that Carrick, who appeared on crutches as Ryan Giggs collected the trophy, suffered swelling, bleeding and ligament damage to the left ankle and would be out for several weeks.

''It's a blow for the lad and it has knocked him back a bit,'' Ferguson said. ''It also is a big blow for us but we have to handle that; we have got the players to cope. I am still confident that we can start the season strongly.''