"His passing and his retention of the ball gives everyone time to move; his game is based on a lot of movement.
For so long English football has obsessed over basic technique and retention of the ball but in more recent times the key quality in elite attacking play seems to be something further, a kind of applied intelligence, the ability to interpret and manage the game around you.
The Wallabies soared to a new height of ball retention and direct action.
Given Carrick's qualities of ball retention, it may be that the Chelsea midfielder has to wait on 99 for a late substitute's appearance.
From there it was a demonstration of the art of ball retention as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi played the game among themselves before the little Argentine's header with 20 minutes to go rounded off Barcelona's night.
In terms of ball retention he was probably the greatest player of all time, blessed with such grace and supernatural awareness that he could play a game of real-life Pac-Man and never be caught, but to some extent his work was done in less dangerous areas.
Modern-day tackling techniques and the no-risk option of ball retention are no doubt contributory factors, but the value of staying on the feet – driving and spinning before breaking out with a running No 9 and hard-line support runners around him – must never be underestimated.
Last week's match between Munster and Northampton, which set the tone for the tournament, was fascinating in many ways and led to a remarkable denouement that would have forced many a scriptwriter to wonder whether he was over-egging things: 41-plus phases of ball retention with one aim in mind – to set up Ronan O'Gara for a shot at a match-winning drop goal.
That said, there were days when he was all but unstoppable, and his directness may be just the thing to capitalise on the ball retention of the phalanx of Brazilian attacking midfielders at the club, even if he is no longer quite so rapid as he was when he first exploded into the consciousness at the African Cup of Nations in 2000.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the hardness of resilient materials applied to the female parts of specialized ball attachments, and the diameter of ball abutments on the retention of an implant overdenture.
