Jamie Carragher

Jamie Carragher
Carragher (2011)
Personnel
Surname	James Lee Duncan Carragher
birthday	January 28, 1978
place of birth	Bootle ,  England
position	Central defender
Juniors
Years	station
1992-1996	Liverpool FC
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1996-2013	Liverpool FC	508 (3)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1997	England U20	4 (1)
1996-2000	England U-21	27 (1)
1998-2006	England B	3 (0)
1999-2010	England	38 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

James Lee Duncan "Jamie" Carragher (born January 28, 1978 in Bootle ) is a former English football player . He was under contract with Liverpool FC and was the vice-captain behind Steven Gerrard . He came from the youth department of Liverpool FC and was the longest-serving player in the club's professional squad in the 2012/13 season. In the English national team , however, he was never able to earn a permanent place and, with 38 internationals, made comparatively few appearances. In professional circles, Carragher is one of the "most underrated players".

After Gerard Houllier mostly him in his early years as a full-back had started, he acted later under Rafael Benítez in the center of defense as a central defender .

Club career

The first years in Liverpool (until 2004)

As a young talent, Jamie Carragher attended the former academy of the English FA in Lilleshall and won the FA Youth Cup in 1996 with the youth team of Liverpool FC - together with Michael Owen . In October of the same year he signed his first professional contract with the " Reds " and came three months later, on January 8, 1997, in the semi-final second leg of the Coca-Cola Cup against Middlesbrough FC for the first time. He was substituted on for Rob Jones . He also made his Premier League debut three days later when he was substituted on again against West Ham United . In the next game against Aston Villa Carragher was in the starting line-up for the first time and also scored his first competitive goal in this home game.

During the 1998/99 season Carragher had meanwhile recommended himself as a regular player, and as a promising talent he finally made his first international match in the late phase of the season. During this time, his position changed frequently, and in addition to central defense, he played both as a left or right defender and also in defensive midfield. As a result, he primarily earned a reputation as a “filler”, and the lack of reference to a fixed position should have a negative effect on his chances in the “first eleven” in the further course of his career. In the 1999/2000 season he mostly acted as a right-back and moved to the left-back in the 2000/01 season . Due to his reliability and straightforward style of play, he had earned a high recognition status among his own fans at that time.

On January 27, 2002, Carragher attracted public attention when he tossed a coin thrown from the crowd onto the field into the stands during an FA Cup match against Arsenal . For this he received the red card and was subsequently blocked by the English Football Association. After the end of the season, he missed participation in the 2002 World Cup because he had to undergo an operation on his injured knee at that time. This intervention then ensured that he had to take a break in the first two months of the 2002/03 season . After signing the Norwegian John Arne Riise as a left-back, Carragher played mostly on the right-back side at the time. When the more attacking right-wing full-back Steve Finnan was signed by Fulham in the summer of 2003 , a competition between Finnan and Carragher for the position was expected, but this was decided early in the fifth game of the season. In the game against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park , Carragher broke a leg on September 13, 2003 in a duel with Lucas Neill and was out for four months. After this time, which was accompanied by heated arguments between Liverpool coach Gérard Houllier and Blackburn's sporting director Graeme Souness due to the tough foul play and the lack of apology, Carragher still acted in 24 competitive games.

Change to central defense (2004-07)

The 2004/05 season then marked a milestone in the career of Jamie Carragher. The new coach Rafael Benítez moved him to central defense, where Carragher should play alongside Finn Sami Hyypiä in 56 games. With that he became part of a defensive duo that is respected in Europe and thus finally brushed off his “emergency nail” reputation with regard to club football. In this constellation, Liverpool FC won the Champions League, the most prestigious club title in Europe, and Carragher was awarded the title of “Liverpool's Player of the Year” for his performance at the end of the season. On July 8, 2005, he - like Steven Gerrard - signed a new four-year contract in Liverpool , and only a short time later, on July 26, 2005, he scored in the second qualifying round for the upcoming Champions League series against the Lithuanian champions FBK Kaunas scored his first goal in six years (and third goal overall). In the Supercup against the UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moscow on August 26, 2005, Carragher represented the injured Gerrard as team captain and led his team to a 3-1 victory in Monaco .

On May 13, 2006 he completed his tenth final in ten years with the FA Cup final against West Ham United . There he scored an own goal in the 21st minute, but his team won the game 6-4 on penalties in the end. On December 9, 2006, Carragher scored in Anfield against Fulham FC his first league goal since January 16, 1999, which was extensively celebrated due to the rarity among their own supporters. In the semi-final second leg in the Champions League against Chelsea , Carragher set a new club record on May 1, 2007 in terms of most European Cup matches. With his 90th European appearance, he exceeded the previous record of Ian Callaghan , who had played 89 European Cup games for Liverpool FC between 1964 and 1978. Following that Chelsea game he was voted Man of the Match and at the end of the season Carragher was again named Liverpool Best Actor.

Recent developments (since 2007)

After signing a new four-year contract on June 4, 2007, Carragher crossed the "500 competitive games limit" in Liverpool in the 2007/08 season, which had only been achieved by eleven other footballers before him. In terms of sport, the next three years up to the end of the 2009/10 season brought no further titles, and the achievements of the now over 30-year-old were often the subject of criticism towards the end of the 2000s - in addition to the lack of goal danger, he was considered “too slowly". Especially with a good performance against defending champions Manchester United , he won back credit in public criticism on October 25, 2009 and had a number of chances to score in December 2008 and January 2009 as a right full-back during the injury of Álvaro Arbeloa with flanking balls from the side taken care of in front of the opposing housing.

On February 7, 2013, Jamie Carragher announced that he would end his career at the end of the 2012/2013 season.

National team

Before he signed his first professional contract with Liverpool FC and before his first league appearance, Carragher had already made his first international match for the England U-21 national team in 1996. As a defensive midfielder, he quickly developed into a regular player and eventually became the captain of this selection. By the year 2000, he had made 27 international matches, making him the record international player for the England U-21s - this record was only surpassed by goalkeeper Scott Carson in 2007.

On April 28, 1999 he came against Hungary in the English senior team to his first international match and was substituted in in a 1-1 draw. His first game from the start did not follow until August 15, 2001 in a 2-0 home loss to the Netherlands at White Hart Lane . After he had to pass the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea the following year due to injury, he was two years later in the English squad for the Euro 2004 in Portugal. There he was not used, however, and lost it in the first group game against France in the fight for the still vacant fourth place in defense against Ledley King .

Carragher was also appointed to the squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but was initially not in the starting line-up. When Gary Neville was injured, he moved to the team for the second group game against Trinidad and Tobago . However, he lost this place again at the qualifying games. In the last 16 against Ecuador he came on late at 1-0 to secure victory for Joe Cole , and in the quarter-finals against Portugal his 119th-minute substitution for Aaron Lennon served to increase England's chances on penalties as he was considered safer Penalty taker counted. However, he failed in the duel to Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo and England was eliminated.

Also in the English national team, Carragher's versatility ensured that he was used both as an inside, right and left defender and as a defensive midfielder. Since coach Sven-Göran Eriksson mostly chose two central defenders from John Terry , Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell , Carragher was rarely given a chance. Rather, he found his use often on the right side of defense as a substitute for Gary Neville - the role that he eventually played at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In defensive midfield, Eriksson mostly relied on Owen Hargreaves when he explicitly occupied the position .

After there had been speculation that Carragher would end the national team prematurely after the World Cup finals, Carragher confirmed in the run-up to the friendly against Germany that he had already had two talks with the new coach Steve McClaren and that he would make a decision before the upcoming match intended. He finally announced his retirement from the national team in the summer of 2007 and turned down attempts to persuade McClaren. The main reason for this decision was his dissatisfaction with the fact that he was never considered the "first choice" among several English national coaches in the central defensive position and did not get beyond the status of a supplementary player along the four-man defense chain and in the defensive midfield.

Due to injury problems in the defense of the English national team, Carragher agreed to be reassigned to the provisional 30-man squad for the 2010 World Cup . Eventually, he was also nominated for the final 23-man roster. At the World Cup he was used in two group matches. He then resigned again to devote himself entirely to Liverpool.

successes

• UEFA Champions League : 2005
• European Supercup : 2001, 2005
• UEFA Cup : 2001
• English Cup : 2001, 2006
• English League Cup : 2001, 2003, 2012
• FA Community Shield : 2006
• FA Youth Cup : 1996

useful information

• On January 20, 2007 Carragher completed his 450th game for Liverpool FC. In recognition of his ten years of service in the club - based on all competitions - he received a " testimonial match " (a kind of personal benefit game) against the then reigning champions FC Chelsea .
• In September 2010, another testimonial match was held in Carragher's honor. This time they met Everton FC . Some former Liverpool FC players have also been invited to the game. In addition to Michael Owen , Jerzy Dudek , Luis Garcia , Danny Murphy and Emile Heskey also took part. The game ended 4-1 for Liverpool FC, with Carragher converting two penalties, one of which for Everton FC.
• In an online poll to choose the best player in the history of Liverpool FC (“ 100 Players Who Shook The Kop ”), Carragher came seventh and thus achieved the best placement of a defender.
• Both national team-mate John Terry and former Italian captain Franco Baresi called Carragher Europe's best defender.

Autobiography

• Carra: My Autobiography. London: Bantam Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-593-06102-2

Web links

Commons : Jamie Carragher  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Jamie Carragher in the database of weltfussball.de
• Jamie Carragher in the database of transfermarkt.de
• Jamie Carragher in the soccerbase.com database
• Jamie Carragher , profile on the homepage of Liverpool FC (English)
• Jamie Carragher , profile on the homepage of the English Football Association (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “ Carragher the UEFA king at Anfield ” (uefa.com)
2. ↑ “ Liverpool 2-0 Man Utd ” (BBC Sport)
3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who . Mainstream Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0 , pp. 78 .
4. ↑ " McClaren fails in Carragher bid " (BBC Sport)
5. ↑ Carra quits England for Liverpool focus ” (This is Anfield)
6. ↑ “ Stars back for JC ” ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Liverpoolfc.tv)