Watch Liverpool

Posts Tagged ‘carragher’

• ‘For me, Liverpool is European football’ says defender
• ‘I’d have loved to have been in [the final in] Dublin’

Jamie Carragher has defended Liverpool’s Europa League ambitions this season in the face of apathy from some fans over the importance of Europe’s second-tier competition.

The defender said he understood fans’ objections to the tournament, which has been criticised for the lengthy qualifying rounds and could see nearly 200 teams take part in next year’s competition, but claimed Liverpool should not turn their noses up at the chance of winning another European trophy.

He said: “Realistically I think the manager would use the squad accordingly, and it is also a great place to give young players some experience. I’m sure we will be adding some new players to the squad next season as well, so we will have a bigger squad, and we can ensure that everyone is involved as we will [hopefully] be playing more games.

“For me, it is another trophy to go for. I’d have loved to have been in [the Europa League final in] Dublin in a couple of weeks, that would have been fantastic for us and fantastic for the supporters. I’m not daft, I wouldn’t expect us to play our full team – especially in the group stages – but it is great experience for young players to be involved in that kind of game.”

This season’s competition saw a Liverpool debut for the young striker David Amoo against Macedonia’s Rabotnicki in the qualifying rounds, which started for Liverpool in July, and Carragher believes the Europa League would offer opportunities for the club’s squad and youth players. He said: “Sometimes if you are playing only league games you don’t need to change the team too much, so you will have 10 or 12 disappointed players. So in that sense, having more games makes it easier to keep everyone at the club happy.”

Liverpool were knocked out of this season’s Europa League by Braga at the last-16 stage, and Carragher admitted that the competition can take a toll on the players. “Playing on a Thursday then a Sunday is a bit of a problem; with the Champions League you can sometimes get an extra day’s rest, and when you are playing on a Sunday you are usually playing after other teams, so that can sometimes be a bit of a problem.”

The Anfield club moved into fifth in the Premier League with victory over Newcastle United on Sunday, level on points with Tottenham Hotspur having played a game more. For Carragher the battle for the Europa League spot will add spice to the north London club’s visit to Anfield this month. He said: “I know there is a lot of talk about whether people want us to finish fifth or not, but for me, Liverpool is European football. That’s what the club is about and I’m desperate for us to get it. If we keep winning games we’ve got a good chance.

“But Tottenham will probably feel the same, and I think [Liverpool v Spurs] will be a great game now. It is equally important just for the team to keep winning too, and maintain the feel-good factor. It hasn’t been a great 18 months really for the club, it has been tough. Now, though, we can start to enjoy ourselves and go into games expecting to win.”

The Spurs manager Harry Redknapp last week made his feelings on the Europa League clear last week, describing it as a competition “that teams get in and then they try to get out of” but Carragher said the rivalry for fifth place in the league will be intense when the teams meet on 15 May.

“It will be some game. I remember the game we had with them last season. We were still fighting for fourth at the time and we weren’t on a great run, but the crowd were fantastic that night and we had a great game against them. I think the crowd will be in a similar vein when we play them in a couple of weeks. But we have to make sure we get the result at Fulham first, to ensure that the Tottenham game has greater significance.”

Jamie CarragherLiverpoolEuropa Leagueguardian.co.uk

• Sir Alex Ferguson ignored media after Liverpool defeat
• Portuguese winger rejected defender’s attempted apology

Nani feels let down by Manchester United over their failure to complain publicly about the tackle by Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher that forced him off the field at Anfield with a badly gashed leg.

Nani was withdrawn at half-time of Sunday’s defeat and, although United were privately furious at Carragher’s challenge, which they felt merited a red rather than a yellow card, they have not commented on the incident because of a media black-out imposed by Sir Alex Ferguson.

United’s manager refused to speak to any media outlets after the game, including the club’s own television station, and instructed his coaching staff and players to remain silent.

Sources close to Nani said the winger believes the club should have shown support for him publicly. United’s chief executive, David Gill, was sufficiently incensed by Carragher’s tackle to voice his complaints to the referees’ chief, Mike Riley, at half-time in the directors’ box.

Carragher tried to apologise to Nani after the game but it is understood the Portuguese was unwilling to engage with the defender, who was denied access by United’s players to their dressing room. He then waited outside with the intention of saying sorry but Nani is understood to have walked by.

Nani does not expect his injury to sideline him for long. “I would like to thank supporters for their good wishes and I hope to be back really soon,” he said.

Manchester UnitedLiverpoolJamie CarragherDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

Kenny Dalglish already has an emotional hold on the dressing room, but Steve Clarke could be the man to turn Liverpool into an interesting football team again

When Carlo Ancelotti left Milan for Chelsea, he could hardly have imagined that the challenge in England would include a rendezvous with his old friend catenaccio. But that was what he confronted when Liverpool turned up at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. A mere 24 hours after the Premier League had indulged itself in an orgy of goals and delinquent defending, he faced opponents who had double‑locked the back door.

These days players in England are seldom invited to perform in a line-up featuring three central defenders and two wing‑backs. A defensive line of four is almost compulsory in the Premier League, as it is around the world. Even the tactically eccentric Diego Maradona abandoned his experiment with a three‑man back line before arriving for the World Cup in South Africa last summer, although Napoli and Udinese have been employing it to some advantage in Serie