Gary Neville has lavished praise on Michael Carrick, saying the midfielder is made up of Andrea Pirlo, Paul Scholes and Sergio Busquets.

The former Manchester United captain is a big admirer of his old colleague who he also describes as 'peaceful, 'calm' and 'composed'.

"I'd say Carrick has the qualities of a Scholes or Andrea Pirlo, and of a Sergio Busquets," said Neville.

"Busquets does more defending and Pirlo is more of a rhythm player, like Scholes. Michael is a mix between the two styles.

"It's unfair to say he is the same as one or the other - he's different - but he has those qualities. He's critical for Louis van Gaal and he's a very important player for England in the next 12 months leading up to a European -Championship. Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have retired, and now Michael Carrick has an opportunity.

"I describe him as a piano. You can go into a bar and listen to rock music, but Carrick is more like a piano player. He's peaceful. He's calm, he brings composure to everyone else around him.