Jamie Carragher: First Among Equals

I have to make an admission. Over the last two seasons I have been among Jamie Carragher’s sternest critics. Never the quickest, he slowed markedly and Agger and Skrtel had usurped him as the club’s premier central defenders. To his credit the Bootle born Scouser refused to be bowed and fought back to become a crucial member of the Liverpool backline once again showing immense strength of character.

When the brilliant unbeaten racehorse Frankel won his penultimate race destroying the field in last August’s Juddmonte International, his owner Khalid Abdulla’s race manager Lord Grimthorpe was asked with the spectre of one final race, why retire the horse? Grimthorpe remarked, “the best time to leave a party is when you least want to go.”

Jamie Carragher has decided to leave the party with fellow pros and fans alike asking why when he’s playing as well as ever. His strength in the tackle, whole heartedness and his never say die attitude has given fans an insight into what the team has been missing and what it will take to replace the lion hearted warrior.  

As Kenny Dalglish said his Mirror column, "He knows better than anyone when is the right time to retire and he has chosen the end of this season but he will be sorely missed."

"He did his job as well as anybody who has ever done their job as a footballer. There is no higher praise than that.  

"It was a bit of a surprise to me that he made his announcement when he did because he had just come through a couple of really tough games with great credit."

He is a born leader who would’ve made a fine Liverpool captain had his close mate Steven Gerrard not been. Suddenly, Liverpool’s backline has a purpose with Carragher organising all around him.

How many times has Jamie Carragher put himself on the line for Liverpool Football Club? If Steven Gerrard was the Man of The Match in Instanbul, Carragher was a very close second with those last ditch tackles with no less an authority than Johann Cruyff remarked at the time.

No Liverpool player as ever worn the shirt with more pride and dignity and that’s some statement for a player who started out as an Evertonian! That being said, he is engrained in Liverpool history to such an extent that it’s unimaginable that this firm favourite will not one day coach or manage the club.

Anyone listening to him as a summariser on television knows that he possesses a football brain and it’s why he probably be inundated with offers from Sky.

He’s been a great servant to Liverpool Football Club of the highest magnitude and will leaving us knowing just want we need to do to replace him if we are to start building a team capable of challenging the Manchester clubs. We’ll need a team full of Carragher’s and Gerrards.

Brendan Rodgers tried to no avail tried to change his mind as he recognised early on the importance his capabilities and professionalism brought to the team and the club.

"For me, he'll be irreplaceable, said Rodgers. I don't think that type can be replaced."

"In the modern game there are very few like him. You see a lot of rash defending now throughout the game. This is a guy who's a pure defender, he defends with great intelligence. He knows when to mark a man, when to mark the space. He understands the basic principles of defending.

"He's an outstanding leader and organiser in the team, and to find someone with all those capabilities and who has got the heart the size of a lion, is very, very difficult to find.

"You won't find that type [anymore]. You obviously have to look for other types of players with other qualities, and that's what we'll have to do."

Quite simply a leader both on and off the field. His charitable work has made him revered in all parts of the city and the comments from all over the country say it all, the man is much loved and revered.

It’s no coincidence to hear that Ed Miliband is looking to get him involved in the run-up to the next general election to endorse his party.

For most of his career he played with Steven Gerrard and it’s only fitting that it is his words from the club’s website which should close this piece.

“I’ve known a little bit longer than other people,” Gerrard told the club’s official website. “I’ve tried just as hard as everyone else to try to keep him going for a bit longer. He’s basically taken no notice of what I said because I was trying for him to push on for another year.

“But we have to respect his decision. He’s had a fantastic career and he feels it’s the right time to go out, at the end of the season. Hopefully there are still some big performances left in him before he goes.

“I could go on for a long time about him. People mention him alongside the likes of (Alan) Hansen and (Mark) Lawrenson, the best defenders that this club has ever had.

“For me, if he’s not alongside them he’s a little bit above them. That’s the biggest compliment I can pay him. He’s a wonderful player – at his peak, for two or three seasons he was one of the best defenders in the world.

“At times this season it has been difficult for him, not being a regular starter – because he has been a starter since he made his debut. I can respect and understand his decision; we’re all going to come to that moment in our careers.

“Everyone knows what we’re going to miss on the playing side.  Since I made my debut Jamie has been alongside me in the dressing room and been a close mate of mine. It’s going to be different and no-one is going to miss Jamie more than me.”