A bit more from an interview he gave in the times.
Mark Chester, of Liverpoolâs Tactics 4 Families project, is picking his ideal XI for a classroom of 10-year-olds. Defenders? Easy. You canât beat Jamie Carragher. In fact, imagine a back four where every player is as indomitable as Anfieldâs No 23. Strikers? Chester wants players who would chase down every half-chance. How about two more Carraghers? Delight flashes across faces as kids realise Chester is selecting what Liverpool fans sing they dream about, a âTeam of Carraghersâ. âBrilliant team,â shouts one boy. âA very brilliant team,â concurs another. A third ladâs opinion: âVery, very, very bad.â Carragher is actually present, having come to Northway Primary School to help the lesson, but his critic is unabashed. This is Merseyside, where having an opinion and defending it stridently is virtually a civic duty.
The lad supports Everton.
The moment delights Citizen Carra. He couldnât love what he calls âLiverpool lifeâ more. He has two children himself, James, seven, whoâs âtotally into his footballâ, and Mia, five, âa character and a half who loves singing and dancing and X Factorâ. In summary: âTheyâre not shy. Theyâre Liverpool kids.â He reflects how he hardly gets to see his mates any more but âmy kids are my mates now reallyâ. Heâs âdesperateâ to take James and Mia to Chill Factor, an indoor ski centre in Manchester which the pair fixate about, but footballâs relentless schedule makes it difficult. Carra laughs.
âFootballers are privileged but people look at the money we earn and the cars some drive and think we donât do normal stuff, like we have servants to look after our babies or something . . . Iâm up at half seven every morning, getting the kids ready for school, making sure theyâre brushing their teeth, getting their breakfast, taking them to school. Thatâs the same as anyone really.â
His workplace just happens to be special. He has been Liverpoolâs company man since signing âSâ forms 18 years ago, making 611 appearances, and a record 120 in Europe. If a Team of Carraghers is the Kopâs dream, a side without him is its nightmare. Yet Rafa Benitez says, because of age, Carragher will not be considered for a contract extension until this summer, when his current deal will be a year from expiry. Carragher only turned 32 five weeks ago, has enough juice in his legs to have started the most games of any Liverpool player this season, and none give Benitez greater service.
It is even harder imagining Carragher in another clubâs shirt than Steven Gerrard. But Carragherâs outlook is as no-nonsense as his defending. Heâs not going to become an old lag clinging to the red shirt or coasting as a squad player if Liverpool prove lukewarm about his future usefulness, and would consider other playing options, including abroad, provided a move suited his kids.
Benitez says: âWith Carra we will have to see.â
âIâve no problem with that. Thatâs up to the club. I play my football and Iâve got 12 months left in the summer. The club will give me a new contract if they want to, if not it doesnât matter, Iâll still play my best and if I have to move Iâll move, no problem. It wouldnât bother me,â Carragher says. âI made the England decision [to retire] very quickly. Iâm not scared of making big decisions.â
His club still need him, on recent evidence. Carragher has been at his cussed best as Liverpool (one league defeat in 10 games) finally have turned their campaign round. âIâve come through this season well because at the start it was âJamie Carragherâs finishedâ. The whole team was struggling and probably myself, Mascherano, Stevie, since weâre classed as the spine of the team, we were getting the criticism. And people jumped on me because of my age. I had a bad first half at West Ham, a really poor game, but Iâd have one of them every season. Then Drogba got the better of me for a goal in the 90th minute against Chelsea when Iâd played well for the other 89. I had to get on with it. It sort of became me against the world and I donât mean I was sitting at home crying, I was going into training every day to prove to everyone Iâve still got a career.
âIâve always thought footballers who say theyâve nothing to prove are talking rubbish. Every day on the training pitch you have got to prove youâre better than the competition. Iâm not finished and the performance I gave against Rooney, best striker in the world, the performances versus Everton, Villa away, Tottenham, big games . . . I was there.â Being âthereâ, on the field, is all-important.
He once had a collapsed lung and was back playing â wheezing and grimacing â three weeks later. This season he has ignored a twisted ankle and strained groin to turn out during difficult times. âIâm proud of the fact that . . . â He chooses his words carefully. â . . . well, Iâve played with lots of players like this and when itâs not going well itâs easy to get out of the firing line, pick up a suspension on purpose, get a little nick, stay out for two or three weeks.
âI was always there, Iâm maybe too honest at times, always there to be shot at. But I donât feel youâve got to be 100% fit to play. Iâve got to be 100% injured not to play. And the reason is simple: Iâm terrified of losing my place.â Liverpool also have status fears. The race for fourth spot is âgoing to the wireâ, says Carragher. âManchester Cityâs win at Chelsea was a big one but you donât know if itâll galvanise them or prove a freak result. Tottenham are the ones Iâm wary of. They keep a lot of clean sheets and score goals and have fantasy players. But, when it gets to the wire, thereâs games you need to win 1-0 and over the past month Liverpool have been probably one of the best teams in Europe at grinding a result out.
âThatâs what weâre doing, grinding. Weâve come back through fight, desire to do well, and we could never be accused of lacking that. But weâre still not playing fantastic football, weâre not good enough to.â
In March 2009, Liverpool thrashed Manchester United, Real Madrid and Aston Villa. Why does March 2010 find the club in such a different place? âWhatâs gone wrong? I think about it all the time. I donât think weâre as bad as weâve been this season. This has been us at our worst, and last season was us at our best. The ârealâ us is probably somewhere in the middle.â
Pundits reckon finishing outside the Champions League places would be a âdisasterâ for Liverpool. âNahh!â Carragher snorts. âPeople talk as if weâve finished top four every year. We havenât. Under Houllier and in Rafaâs first season we didnât manage it. Liverpool FC will always be there. The top clubs will always regroup. If we finish fifth or sixth I know people say this player or that player will go . . . well if they do, somebody else will come in. Good players will always play for Liverpool. This club doesnât depend on one player or individuals, itâs a top club, always will be.â
And, for Carragher, being a top club means you chase opportunities in all competitions to finish first rather than obsess about being fourth in one. Thursdayâs Europa League clash with Lille is as big as tomorrowâs Premier League game against Wigan. âI donât understand why people rubbish the Europa League. There are only two European trophies up for grabs every year. I mean, if you asked would I rather get in the semi-finals of the Champions League or win the Europa League Iâd rather win the Europa. At the end of my career I could say, âI won thatâ. We got to the Champions League final in 2007, brilliant, but what did it mean in the end?
âPeople ask would you rather win the Europa Cup or finish top four? Well sometimes I think, âWin the cupâ. I always hear Leeds got to the semi-final of the Champions League in 2001. So what? Newcastle had a good run. So what? Itâs about winning trophies. The only way to make this season positive is by achieving both targets, finish top four and win the Europa League. Even if we do, next season we need to move on.â How? âThe squad is capable of producing better and we probably need two or three players who will go into the team and make an impact every week and three or four more to beef up the squad. We probably need six or seven signings.â
Tactics 4 Families teaches family behaviour using football metaphors. Your âfamilyâ is your âteamâ, whether itâs a traditional unit or involves a single parent or other carers, and members must work together. Itâs an especially significant message in areas of Liverpool where social breakdown is high. âMy parents split up when I was 10 but it wasnât one of them where you never saw a parent. I saw my dad every day. I was upset but we moved on and I have a great relationship with my mum and dad,â he says. âMy heart goes out to kids who are not so lucky. Iâm from Bootle and stuff goes on there with families that makes me realise Iâm lucky.â
Family life is the factor that, post-playing, might stop him making what seems a natural progression into coaching. âI donât like the idea of moving my kids out of school. I would for a playing thing, because thatâs my career and how we make our money as a family, but managers can be out of a job in two or three months,â he says. Heâs about to do his âAâ coaching licence. âItâs like being back at school! The thought of coming up with a new session every day, writing it down, all that stuff . . . Iâm not the most academic of people. Iâd be a manager rather than a coach.â He smiles. âI think Iâm a pretty strong character whoâd make decisions.â
Liverpool, if they vacillate over keeping him, should not doubt that.
⢠Tactics 4 Families, backed by the Premier Leagueâs Creating Chances Programme, is a Liverpool FC project aimed at supporting positive family relationships.
GROWING PAINSCarragher has followed the debate, prompted by the John Terry scandal, on whether footballers should be role models. âWe have become like movie or pop stars and can easily be on the front pages as well as the back pages. We are role models and get a lot of attention, so people have a right to expect us to do the right things,â he says.
âBut weâre only human. One minute youâre on a YTS contract, the next youâre on thousands of pounds a week. You go out for a drink, buy a fast car and end up in situations you shouldnât. But then youâve got to grow up.â
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article7052445.ece