Snak

Hvor er den fjerdeplads dog langt væk og Tottenhan ligner ikke et hold, der kunne løbe ind i et formdyk.

Fin blog fra Owen om vennen Jamie Carragher


Michael´s Blog: 9th February 2013

CARRA


I had known it was coming for a while, but for some reason, until you see it appear in a newspaper or flash across your TV screen, it never seems to sink in. Jamie Carragher, or ´Carra´ to most of the footballing world, announced that he will retire from the game at the end of the current Premier League campaign.

As always with this type of news, the initial reaction from the majority of people in the game will be to feel a sense of sadness. It was certainly mine. Having played so well in recent weeks it is understandable for many people to believe that Carra still has what it takes to compete at the top level for at least another season. After all, he has only just turned 35 and he plays in a position that requires an experienced head. It is also a position that, providing you have a football brain and your positional play is up to scratch, can leave you less exposed than many of the other positions on the field of play.

So, why did Carra decide to call it a day and was there a reason behind the timing of the announcement? What is Carra like as a person and a player and how will the next chapter of his life pan out? As a room-mate and team mate for 7 years and a friend for 16, I´d like to pay my own tribute to Carra and share my opinion on what made him the player he is.

After two substitute appearances, Carra made his full debut at Anfield against Aston Villa on the 18th January, 1997. I was in the crowd watching him as he scored a header at The Kop end in a 3-0 victory! After a couple more appearances, Carra found himself slipping back down the pecking order due to some of the established first team regulars returning to fitness.

In May 1997 I was called into the squad for the first time and it coincided with Carra being back amongst the first team squad. As you can imagine, the two youngsters in the squad were thrown in a room together and the rest is history.

We formed a lasting friendship while rooming together for 7 years, playing hundreds of games between us and winning a few trophies along the way. That was until Rafa Benitez took over and immediately broke up all of the existing room pairings. His idea was to pair both centre halves together, full-backs and wide men, central midfielders, strike partners etc, presumably trying to forge a good relationship prior to the following day’s game. Rest assured, we didn´t approve of that idea!

As a player, a huge attribute of Carra´s is his toughness. There was a season that I vividly remember him being in such pain leading up to games that I was astounded to see him out on the pitch. He was taking pain killers like smarties and somehow got to the end of the season having played virtually every minute before undergoing surgery to cure his problem. His attitude and work rate in the gym having suffered a broken leg in an away game at Blackburn was another sight to behold. He couldn´t bear being out injured and came back from that injury in double quick time.

In my opinion, Carra´s best attribute is between his ears. I have no doubt that, if asked, he could have played in any position on the park to a high standard. He quite simply has a ´football brain´. It was probably no coincidence. As a youngster he represented England as a striker. He then made his debut for Liverpool as a central midfielder before playing for years under Gerard Houllier as a full-back. Finally, it is at centre back where he ended up and who will ever forget his performance in Istanbul where every quality he possesses was evident on the biggest club stage of all?

His relationship with the fans is second to none. People can relate to him. His demeanour, attitude and style of play both characterised and represented where he is from. He lives in the city and rubs shoulders with the fans over a pint after a game on a Saturday. He was brought up that way. In many ways his retirement from International Football at a relatively young age helped form an even stronger bond with the fans. They felt that he only had eyes for them and to a certain degree it was true. He was proud to play for his country but he always seemed to be fourth choice. I think the tipping point came when his two kids arrived. Being away from home for long periods is tough enough but when you are not playing it compounds the agony. With players of a similar age ahead of him in the queue, he decided to focus his efforts on Liverpool.

The timing of the announcement was typical Carra. Inevitably, whenever the news broke it was going to make the headlines. However, he chose the day after an England game, maybe a strategic ploy to get his story slightly watered down during other major sporting news while also creating enough time between the announcement and Liverpool´s next game for the dust to settle and the news not to be too much of a distraction. It was a reflection of how he is as a player and person - understated, unselfish and class.

One of the most flattering things to have been brought up since Carra made his announcement is the possibility of retiring the No.23 shirt. I read an interesting tweet from Paul Dalglish (son of Kenny) suggesting it wouldn´t be a great idea. I have to go along with his reasoning. Nearly every kid in the red half of Merseyside will grow up wanting to be Carra. Wearing ´his´ shirt will not only create something to strive for, but once on their back, provide a responsibility to wear the shirt displaying the same pride as the previous owner. Much like the Newcastle No.9, the Liverpool No.7, and the Manchester United No.7, the Liverpool No.23 will from now on always be synonymous with the man who wore it.

So what next for Carra? There is no doubt that he is management material. He is an encyclopaedia of football knowledge and potential managerial talents like him don´t come around too often. On the flip side to that, he isn´t the most tolerant of people and I´d envisage him having the odd confrontation with some of the more pampered footballers of today. I also don´t see him wanting to venture far from the North West. He is, and always has been, amongst his friends and family in Bootle and prizing him away could be an impossible task.

Of course, the perfect job in the long term would be the Liverpool hot seat but it remains to be seen whether a rookie manager could take on a job so big. Maybe working his way up the ladder from within is the way to go, treading those same famous steps as many of the boot room boys did during the club’s glory years. Whatever he does, sometimes you come across people in life that are just born to succeed. Carra is certainly one of them.

Note: If you have something to say about this Blog please post your comments on Twitter to @themichaelowen

Ja, den er god. Delen med at give spillerne nye værelseskammerater skulle dog eftersigende også have været for at bryde klikerne og især scouserkliken.

Det er vist meget klassisk, at den nye chef prøver at nedbryde hierarkierne.

Jep. Og der var jo også kommet lidt en tendens blandt de lokale stjerner til at se LFC som et skridt på vejen til noget større.

Fin tribute fra Owen.

Old cynic rozzer, det virker måske naivt i den nuværende situation, hvor holdet er miles away fra noget der ligner et mesterskab, og hvor Carras niveau (bortset fra de seneste par kampe) har været stærkt på retur. Det er dog ikke så forfærdeligt længe siden, at man sad med en vis tro på, at Carra sgu nok kunne fortsætte til tæt på de 40 på sine fighteregenskaber alene.

Og han kunne nok også godt have trukket en reserverolle i truppen et par sæsoner mere, hvis han virkelig ville (og i den tid kunne holdet muligvis nærme sig toppen igen), men med begyndende formnedgang og nyt spillesystem er det forståeligt (og forventeligt) at han ønsker at stoppe nu med sin værdighed og status intakt.

Han stopper på det helt rigtige tidspunkt.

Bekymrende for Liverpool er at - foruden Agger - resten af centerforsvarene hverken stabile eller gode nok.

Jeg læser dog Ayres udtalelser og Kellys forlængelse som at man på sigt - måske allerede fra sommer - ser ham som centerforsvarer.

Ja, det vil da også give mening at afprøve ham centralt. Det er jo der, han har spillet indtil førsteholdsdebuten, og som han fortsatte med at spille for England U21. Og han bliver aldrig en rigtig god offensiv højreback. Hvis den nye medicinske stab formår at få bugt med Kellys skader, så har de vel næsten udført mirakler, hvis man ser på hvor få skader, de ellers normalt skadesforfulgte spillere har haft.

Det vil også give mening i forhold til de mange andre talenter. Ikke fordi Wisdom virker som et meget større backtalent, men ligesom med Carra er det nok meget godt, at de unge spillere får erfaring på den plads fremfor centralt. McLaughlin er eftersigende talentet til højreback, hvis klubben holder fast i det offensive koncept, og Flanagan, som ellers fik en meget lovende start på sin LFC-karriere, er nok oppe imod en for hård konkurrence - især fordi han lader til at have problemer med presset, og han lader til kun at være en kandidat til højreback, selvom han vist også er blevet afprøvet i venstre side og på den defensive midt.

Noget andet er, at det lader til at være utrolig svært at være central forsvarsspiller i Rodgers´ system. Det er selvfølgelig ikke nødvendigvis et problem på den lange bane, hvis Rodgers´ team er dygtige til at finde frem til de rette spillere, men nu og her virker det til tider lidt naivt.

Rodgers har dog ændret taktikken en del, og det taktiske udgangspunkt minder nu ret meget om det taktiske udgangspunkt i sidste sæson - en slags skæv 4-4-2 eller 4-4-1-1. Der er selvfølgelig stadig markante forskelle. Forsvaret forsvarer på linje nu frem bue i sidste sæson, og det er næsten udelukkende op til backsne at holde bredden. Og så er opspillet også anderledes/mindre varieret.

Jeg synes at huske at jeg så gamle Carraghers debut dengang. Kan det passe at han fik et gult kort nærmest lige med det samme?

Han fik vist et gult kort næsten med det samme i sin første PL-start.