In this fixture last season, Michael Carrick made his return to Manchester United's starting line-up. Sir Alex Ferguson had been building a midfield without him – the emergence of Tom Cleverley, along with some decent performances from Anderson and Darren Fletcher, suggested that Ferguson desired a more mobile, fluid midfield. Carrick had become accustomed to warming the bench.

But that match, a 1-0 United win, was perfect for his return. Swansea's preference for short passing created a patient match based around technical rather than physical qualities, and Carrick was outstanding. Since then, of United's 43 Premier League fixtures, he has started 42, and finished 40.

His return to the Liberty Stadium was among Carrick's finest passing performances since his reintegration despite United dropping two points because of wasteful finishing.

There are two major criticisms of Carrick. The first is his inability to perform well under physical pressure, a concern that has been exaggerated following United's two Champions League final defeats to Barcelona, when he was pressed relentlessly by Pep Guardiola's midfielders. Nevertheless, it's certainly an area of weakness, which makes it surprising opponents don't keep him permanently occupied. At the start of this game, Swansea's most advanced midfielder, Jonathan de Guzmán, seemed to be staying close to Carrick and leaving Cleverley free; but the longer the game went on, the less obvious his marking was, and the more freedom Carrick enjoyed. He played 93 passes – 20 more than any other player on the pitch – and misplaced only six.

Which brings us to the second criticism: that Carrick's passing is sideways and unambitious, inflating his pass completion statistics while harming United's tempo. But Carrick's performance here was a fine riposte; rather than easy passes into wide areas, he continually hit the ball forward.

The key to that positivity was the movement and positioning of the United attackers, which offered three forward passing options. First, Ashley Young sensed the Swansea right-back Dwight Tiendalli was sticking very tight to him, so drifted inside from the left into dangerous central positions. Second, Wayne Rooney wasn't instructed to help out in the midfield zone, and instead remained between the lines, wandering from side to side into pockets of space. Third, Robin van Persie's history as a No10 means he naturally comes towards the ball, trying to drag defenders out of position and link play. Never before has Ferguson possessed a strike partnership so determined to receive short balls in to feet.

Almost all United's good attacking play stemmed from Carrick. There was the incisive, drilled pass towards the feet of Young that brought a fine save out of Michel Vorm and won the corner for United's opener, and the lofted, left-footed pass into the channel for Van Persie, which resulted in a good chance for the substitute Javier Hernández.

Unfortunately, Rooney had his poorest game of the season, Van Persie's first touch was unusually wayward, and Young's movement was superior to his finishing. Those three can hardly complain of a lack of service – they had 15 shots between them, and frequently received the ball in promising situations. Their end product won't be so disappointing again this season – with Carrick on the ball and clear forward passes available, United are a consistent attacking threat.