After congratulating
Roy Keane on his recent appointment at Aston Villa, Jamie Carragher was
encouraged by the Irishman to put his considerable expertise to good
use on a training pitch as well.
It
was a thought that had already occurred to Brendan Rodgers. When he
first spoke to Carragher in his role as Liverpool’s new manager, Rodgers
told the club’s then vice-captain he was considering inviting him on to
the staff.
In
the end, he asked Carragher to focus purely on playing in what was to
be his final season at Anfield. But clearly Rodgers, like Keane, could
see that a centre half with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game had
something to offer.
Right now, however, Carragher is having far too much fun as a television analyst and newspaper columnist to consider coaching.
‘I love it,’
he says, ‘and if I’m honest I’d rather analyse a game than put on a
training session. I love stopping the video and looking at why a goal
has been scored. Everyone can see it’s a great strike but what happened
before that? I love going into the detail. I get a real buzz out of
studying a game for Monday Night Football on Sky. I see it as a real
challenge, for Gary Neville and I, to come up with something different
when everyone else has already had a go at analysing the weekend
matches. We want to find something nobody has spotted. I like the
challenge of coming up with a fresh subject for my Daily Mail column
too.’
Days
before the beginning of a new Premier League season and Carragher is as
enthusiastic as his 11-year-old son, who is trying to show him a new
card trick. We are driving to a restaurant in Ibiza, where Carragher is
holidaying with his family, when, quite unprompted, he suddenly declares
he can’t wait for the new season to start. ‘What would we do without
football?’ he asks. He was no different as a player, always searching
for a game from different leagues across Europe to watch on television
when he was relaxing at home.
‘I
can’t wait to study Manchester United when they play three at the
back,’ he says, again quite randomly.There is a real intensity about
Carragher. He has not only maintained a decent level of fitness a year
into retirement but has actually lost a little weight, replacing Melwood
with a traditional, spit-and-sawdust boxing gym attended by some of his
home city’s finest fighters.
‘I don’t get
in the ring with them,’ he points out quickly. ‘I go with the same
group of people every day. A bit of circuit training, a bit of boxing, a
bit of pad work. It’s a proper boxing gym. I like training with a
group. I couldn’t go to a gym and train on my own on a treadmill. I like
the banter that comes with training with others. You push each other
on.’
He
still plays a bit of football, too. One night a week is spent at the
same Brunswick Boys Club both Carragher and his father went to as young
lads to play five-a-side, with his son, James, and a few mates.
Some
find retirement difficult but Carragher does not appear to be one of
them. ‘I thought it would be a lot worse but I’ve really enjoyed the
past year,’ he says. ‘It helped that, before I retired, I knew what I
was going to go into. For some footballers it can be difficult. They
feel like the game has forgotten them.
‘You
have to prepare for finishing, and I was fortunate to have a focus. I
didn’t want to be sitting at home reminiscing about my career and
wondering what I might do next.’
He will not
deny there were moments when he wondered if he had retired too early.
Not least when it seemed Liverpool might win that elusive Premier League
title last season. ‘I’m only human,’ he says.
But it felt like the right time to go, he insists, once he could no longer be certain of a first-team place.
‘As
soon as Kenny (Dalglish) put me on the bench and Skrtel and Agger
became first choice, I knew I wouldn’t be playing again after the end of
my last contract,’ he says. ‘I just couldn’t be a substitute. I’m not
acting the superstar here. I just always wanted to play. I did have
injuries. I broke my leg in 2003, had a knee operation and dislocated my
shoulder but I’ve never pulled a muscle in my life so I was always
ready to play.
‘My
life revolved around training every day and focusing on a game from
three days in advance. I’d just be thinking about who I was going to be
playing against, where I’d be playing and what I’d be doing. As soon as
that was taken away it just felt dead. It was a nightmare. For any
sportsman, it’s not easy to go. It’s one of the most difficult things.
But I think I timed it right.’
He is now part of a different team, with a team-mate he would not have necessarily warmed to in the past.
He will not
deny there were moments when he wondered if he had retired too early.
Not least when it seemed Liverpool might win that elusive Premier League
title last season. ‘I’m only human,’ he says.
But it felt like the right time to go, he insists, once he could no longer be certain of a first-team place.
‘As
soon as Kenny (Dalglish) put me on the bench and Skrtel and Agger
became first choice, I knew I wouldn’t be playing again after the end of
my last contract,’ he says. ‘I just couldn’t be a substitute. I’m not
acting the superstar here. I just always wanted to play. I did have
injuries. I broke my leg in 2003, had a knee operation and dislocated my
shoulder but I’ve never pulled a muscle in my life so I was always
ready to play.
‘My
life revolved around training every day and focusing on a game from
three days in advance. I’d just be thinking about who I was going to be
playing against, where I’d be playing and what I’d be doing. As soon as
that was taken away it just felt dead. It was a nightmare. For any
sportsman, it’s not easy to go. It’s one of the most difficult things.
But I think I timed it right.’
He is now part of a different team, with a team-mate he would not have necessarily warmed to in the past.
‘I wouldn’t
have been too fond of Gary when we were players,’ he says of Neville.
‘But those barriers come down once you stop playing, and I’ve found Gary
to be a really good lad. As pros I’d say we were both team players. We
weren’t the superstars. And he’s been a real team player for me. Really
helpful and supportive. We’ll talk quite a bit down the week and share
ideas for the show.’
They
even shared a drink while both on holiday in Dubai back in January. ‘It
turned out we were staying in the same hotel so we got together and I
ended up watching United lose with Gary and his dad,’ he says, still
clearly enjoying the moment. ‘It was great!’
Carragher
expects United to be stronger now that Louis van Gaal is in charge. ‘I
admired the way he worked with Holland,’ he says. ‘I thought Holland
would struggle to get out of their group. He (Van Gaal) looked at the
team and knew he didn’t necessarily have quality everywhere, so he
changed things around to create a system to get the best out of Van
Persie and Robben.
‘I
see him doing the same at United. Getting Van Persie and Rooney on the
pitch in a system that works for them by going to a back three. Brendan
did it at times at Liverpool last season.
‘I
think Hull will play that way too at times, as will QPR and possibly
Everton if Martinez wants Jagielka, Distin and Stones on the same
pitch.’
‘I wouldn’t
have been too fond of Gary when we were players,’ he says of Neville.
‘But those barriers come down once you stop playing, and I’ve found Gary
to be a really good lad. As pros I’d say we were both team players. We
weren’t the superstars. And he’s been a real team player for me. Really
helpful and supportive. We’ll talk quite a bit down the week and share
ideas for the show.’
They
even shared a drink while both on holiday in Dubai back in January. ‘It
turned out we were staying in the same hotel so we got together and I
ended up watching United lose with Gary and his dad,’ he says, still
clearly enjoying the moment. ‘It was great!’
Carragher
expects United to be stronger now that Louis van Gaal is in charge. ‘I
admired the way he worked with Holland,’ he says. ‘I thought Holland
would struggle to get out of their group. He (Van Gaal) looked at the
team and knew he didn’t necessarily have quality everywhere, so he
changed things around to create a system to get the best out of Van
Persie and Robben.
‘I
see him doing the same at United. Getting Van Persie and Rooney on the
pitch in a system that works for them by going to a back three. Brendan
did it at times at Liverpool last season.
‘I
think Hull will play that way too at times, as will QPR and possibly
Everton if Martinez wants Jagielka, Distin and Stones on the same
pitch.’
Enjoying the
early-evening warmth of the Mediterranean, Carragher’s excitement
visibly builds. He is animated. He can’t sit still. His mind is racing,
though he breaks off briefly to remind his wife to pack pyjamas for
their kids, who are heading out of the door for a sleepover.
Then,
with a cold beer in hand, he turns to the subject of Liverpool.
Carragher concedes that without Luis Suarez they will not be quite the
force they were. ‘Stevie (Gerrard) was the best Liverpool player I
played with,’ says Carragher, ‘but Suarez was the best striker, and
that’s saying something when you think of those I’ve played with —
Fowler, Owen, Torres.
‘He
was special but we all knew he would go one day. When Real Madrid or
Barcelona come in, the player always goes. Ronaldo left United. We lost
Alonso and Mascherano. The only one who stayed was Stevie but that’s
because he’s a local lad.
‘Even
with all the controversy at the World Cup, the Liverpool players will
be gutted Suarez has gone. They are a lesser team without him, but
looking at the signings Brendan has made they are probably now a better
squad. I saw a stat recently that Brendan made fewer substitutions than
any other Premier League manager last season, probably because he was
thinking he was better off with those he had on the field. Dejan Lovren
looks like a good signing. He’s made a great start but he needs to prove
himself consistently over the next couple of years. But I worry if
Sturridge gets injured. I think Brendan might need to address that.’
Carragher
sees Chelsea as the title favourites — ‘just,’ he says. ‘They won
nothing last season but to go that close in the Champions League and the
league without a recognised striker scoring regularly was remarkable.
‘I
like Mourinho’s style. He’s come in, had a year, and looked at it and
said he needs a centre forward, a creative midfielder and a left back.
‘So he gets
Diego Costa, the top scorer in Spain. Bang, done. Then he gets Fabregas.
Bang, done. There aren’t many better than him. And Filipe Luis, for me
the best left back in the Champions League last season. Job done again.’
In Chelsea, and in champions Manchester City, he sees a quality still lacking at Arsenal.
‘They
had a good result against City in the Community Shield,’ he says, ‘but I
look at the spine of the team and think: goalkeeper, good but not
great, centre backs, good but not great. Arteta, holding midfield player
and captain, good but not great. Same with the strikers. The spine
comes up short. They spent more time at the top than any other team last
season but still came up short.
‘Why
has Arsene Wenger not done what Mourinho has done? Why has he not
bought a top goalkeeper? I wish Wenger would go out and buy a big
goalkeeper, a strong centre back, a big midfielder and a decent striker
and go for it.’
For
Carragher, City possess the ultimate midfielder, one of the finest
players to have graced the Premier League. But he remains baffled by the
controversy that surrounded Yaya Toure over the summer, when he
complained his club had forgotten his birthday.
‘There are
players you might not know but that you admire,’ says Carragher. ‘Toure
was among those when I was playing. He’s a great player. One of the best
we’ve seen in the Premier League. But I also liked him because he never
got involved in any nonsense on the pitch. I really respected him for
that. And then that story about his birthday unfolded and I’m thinking,
“no, stop it. Nobody has a bad word to say about you in football; don’t
ruin your reputation”.
‘Gerard
Houllier always remembered players’ birthdays but I was happier if
people didn’t realise I was a year older. It was just embarrassing for
Toure and I’m glad he’s staying because I wouldn’t want him to be
remembered for that.’
Carragher
sees City as the main challengers to Chelsea. He says: ‘The City spine
is as good as any team in world football. Joe Hart. There’s not a centre
half better than Kompany in the world. Yaya Toure and Aguero. Among the
best three or four in the world in their position. That spine can win
them the league. That power and strength. In Toure and Kompany they have
two players who can drive that team.’
He
could go on, but the sun is still shining, the sea view is wonderful
and his wife would like him to join her for dinner with some friends.
Carragher’s mind is elsewhere though. ‘I like the look of Pochettino,’ he says. A subject for another time.
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