On the first anniversary of the athletic's entry into the UK market, they decided to brave the world to choose the top 60 superstars in the Premier League. They say the value of the list is not in the rankings, but in the story. Follow us and share with us these 60 stories carefully selected by the editorial board.
On 23 July, as Liverpool players climbed the ranks in the kop stands, Martin Taylor, a prominent football commentator at Sky Sports, noticed a detail: Arnold was the only Liverpool native of Liverpool's regular starters.
Commentators and fans usually value things like this – a player with an unusual sense of belonging to the team plays for the local team and becomes the main force, the core and even the legend. On the other side of Merseyside, for example, fans relish the story of Wayne Rooney scoring his career debut for Everton in 2002 and then wandering the streets of Merseyside with friends after the game.
But for the players, this may not be the case.
For example, Chamberlain, who lifted the trophy on the night of 23 July, once said he had never heard of Overmars , a famous predecessor of arsenal. Many professional players may enjoy playing on the pitch, but they are not necessarily big fans of the sport.
Of course, on the night of July 23, Carragher, who sat in the commentary booth next to Martin Taylor, was different. He's a 100 percent footballer.
Jamie Carragher is not only a great player, but also a walking encyclopedia of football. He is an avid football reader off the pitch and subscribes to a large number of football magazines. When he was a child, Carragher would pile every issue of Shoot and 90 Minutes magazines in his bedroom, but now he has replaced it with 442.
Note: Shot magazine ceased publication in 2008 and 90 Minute magazine ceased publication in 1997.
In today's football world, many players focus on other sports in their spare time, such as the NBA or NFL. But Carragher is different, he has no other hobbies, he loves football with all his heart.
During his career, Carragher often interacted with the famous sports psychologist Bill Beswick. Beswick suggested that footballers should find an interest other than football, such as golf. This will save them from having to spend time with football, and it will also increase the freshness and excitement of playing.
However, this advice does not apply to Carragher. The essence of his defense lies in his understanding of the game, the team and the players. If he were to leave that, he might just be a mediocre Premier League defender.
Carragher has all the characteristics of a traditional old-school footballer: he was born in butter, a native town in Merseyside, he wore only black sneakers on the pitch, he played for only one team in his career...
However, the team that Carragher plays for is not the one he dreamed of playing for as a child.
In 1996, Liverpool visited Middlesbrough. The young Carragher sat on the bench and had not yet made his first-team debut. At halftime, he warmed up on the pitch and then saw his father in the stands in the afterglow. As his eyes met, Carragher gave his father a thumbs up.
This is not a story of affection, paternal love, or family encouragement. Carragher gave his father a thumbs up because the radio broadcast the outcome of another match, with Everton winning 2-0. Carragher is not only an unashamed fan, but also an unashamed Everton fan.
For those of us who are not Natives of Merseyside, it is difficult to understand the complex and unique antagonistic relationship between Everton and Liverpool. For example, in fact, many young talents produced by Liverpool's youth training were Everton fans when they were young. However, most players will have some excuses and rhetoric, such as the different teams supported at home, or for example, they will only support Everton at Goodison Park when Liverpool is away from home.
But Carragher never hid his connection to Everton. On the back cover of his autobiography, there are two photographs: a large one of him lifting the Champions League trophy for Liverpool and a small one of him wearing an Everton shirt as a student.
For example, on the day of the Hillsborough massacre, Carragher was also watching the FA Cup semi-final, but it was another semi-final - Everton won 1-0 over Norwich at Villa Park.
At a young age, Carragher had a problem with his family, but eventually chose to join the Liverpool youth academy. Of course, the Reds did not live up to his expectations and trained him to be a top player.
At that time, the success of Manchester United's Class of '92 undoubtedly attracted a lot of attention, but the Liverpool youth training of the same era was not inferior. In three consecutive age groups, Liverpool's youth training has produced Carragher, Gerrard and Irving, a world-class defender, a world-class midfielder and a world-class striker.
However, he was still a striker when Carragher had just entered Liverpool's academy training – when he played for England u16 at the time, he also broke through the gate guarded by Buffon, who was born on the same day of the same month of the same year. Then, in the youth team, Irving came out and squeezed him into midfield; then Gerrard came out and squeezed him into the back.
In this position, he has also gone world-class.
But Carragher's golden oil attributes have also had some impact on his career. Carragher scored a goal in his first start in the first team. But in his career, he is known for his oolong ball. In the 1999 2-3 defeat to Manchester United, Carragher scored two oolong goals that changed his career.
Then-manager Hollier chose to swap him in the right-back position, with Hyypia and Henchoz paired at centre-back. Hollier's squad was in desperate need of wing width, but crosses were never Carragher's forte.
But then, after the arrival of Benitez in 2004, Carragher truly grew into a world-class centre-back.
After Benitez came to Liverpool, Carragher rummaged through his collection of old magazines, looking for stories about Benitez.
When Benitez first met With Carragher and Gerrard, he pointed out that the latter was running too much on the field. Gerald was confused by such criticism, and Carragher welcomed such strict tactical positioning on the field.
Benitez's philosophy of coaching was heavily influenced by Ac Milan under Sacchi. He showed Carragher a video of a Milan defensive four during Sacchi's time and asked him to be Liverpool's Baresi: a defensive leader.
Carragher understood quickly. Benitez asked for a distance of up to 30 meters between the three lines, whether it is high pressure or low defense. In that Liverpool team, the leader on the pitch was Gerrard, but the real commander on the pitch was Carragher.
Carragher maintained the habit of reading, especially football books, throughout his career. The Italian Mission, co-authored by Gianluca Vialli and Gabriel Marcotte, is one of his most frequently reads. In The Italian Mission, Vialli systematically discusses the technical, tactical and cultural gap between Italian football and English football. And Carragher, despite his rather British technical characteristics, has an Italian plot in his bones.
"If I had been born in Bologna instead of Boutel, I would have rated it higher."
That's in stark contrast to another of England's top centre-backs – Terry said in an interview that he can watch the English league for 24 hours straight, from the Premier League and the Championship to the League-Africa League, but would never appreciate the style of La Liga and Serie A.
The competition with Terry and Ferdinand for the England national team affected Carragher's career standing. Eriksen often put him at right-back or at the back, with Terry forming a centre-back combination with Ferdinand. In addition, compared to Benitez's clear and unambiguous video tactical analysis, Eriksen is not happy to explain the reasons and purposes of many of his tactical arrangements. This left Carragher feeling overwhelmed.
So, when McLaren, Erikson's successor, didn't give Carragher enough of a chance either, he opted to retire from the national team.
Carragher's attitude was interesting. On the one hand, he once said he understood Eriksen and McLaren: "If I were England manager, I would never have used the combination of Ferdinand and Terry." On the other hand, he had called and debated intensely with the host on the show during a talksport episode discussing his decision to withdraw from the national team. At the time, he was on his way to the training ground.
Before the 2010 World Cup, Carragher made a comeback. Capello's takeover of the English coaching whip is a big reason. Carragher has a long-standing penchant for Italian football, and Capello has seen Carragher as one of the best managers of world football for the past 10-15 years.
All this comes naturally, and there is a romantic color. Unfortunately, England eventually broke south Africa.
What level of centre-back is Carragher? Being in the same era as many top centre-backs and even top England centre-backs may be the reason he is underrated. But there is no denying that in some seasons he has performed better than his fellow Englishmen.
In the 2005 Ballon d'Or, Carragher received three votes, tied for 20th place with Ronaldo that year. In this era when the midfield is more popular with major awards, this is already a rare honor for a central defender.
In those years at The Height of Carragher, Drogba was undoubtedly the best striker in the Premier League at the time. In Drogba's eyes, Carragher is one of the two strongest centre-backs he has ever faced. The other is Puyol.
Many media and commentators believe that Carragher seems to have some obvious disadvantages in speed. But in Carragher's own eyes, his weakness in confrontation was even more pronounced. Carragher had been wearing a long-sleeved jersey early in his career, and many media rumors were made to cover the Everton tattoo on his arm, but this was not the case. As a young man, Carragher always thought his arms were too slender to attract the attention of opponents' strikers.
However, Carragher showed his roots when confronted Drogba, who was both fast and physical. His ability to read the game and his excellent sense of position compensated for his physical weakness both in speed and confrontation. This is the similarity between him and Baresi, who is even only 1.76 meters.
Carragher's performance on the continental stage is better than his performance in the Premier League.
In the 2004–05 Champions League, Carragher showed his mix of English-style Italian defence in two matches against Italian teams: first with an insurmountable defence that became the biggest obstacle between Juventus and the semi-finals, and then in the final, he fought until he was close to cramping in the second half to ensure that he would not concede a goal again.
In the first post-match situation, many reporters and commentators pointed out that Carragher's performance in the second half may be more critical than Gerrard's heroic arrival. If they concede a fourth goal, Liverpool are likely to collapse.
Of course, 15 years later, the memory of goals is much deeper than the memory of defense. However, it is also important to know that Carragher is also a penalty hero: he told Dudek that he could imitate the way goalkeeper Grobella played when Liverpool won the Champions League penalty in 1984.
Carragher learns about the history of football and also about the history of his own club.
Two years later, although Liverpool missed the Champions League to win the cup again, Carragher's performance against Barcelona's Eto'o Ronaldinho Messi trident became his signature match – and liverpool's iconic one.
That Liverpool team is more like a team from the European continent, especially Italy, than an English team.
Until the end of Carragher's career, some of his decisions continued to affect his football position.
In the first half of the 2012-13 season, Carragher was given just one start under his new rogers, which led him to decide to announce that he would hang up his boots at the end of the season. However, the season's top picture, Carragher's return to the starting line in the second half, also improved Liverpool's defensive line. In the last 16 league games, Carragher only missed a game away to Southampton, which was the only league game Liverpool had lost during that time.
However, Carragher did not reconsider his decision to retire. Instead, he chose to retreat from the rapids and leave a highlight on his back.
In his last interview as a Liverpool player, the host asked why he chose to become a football commentator in the future. Carragher's answer was simple: "Because I love football." There are many reasons for players to get into the TV commentary industry, and Carragher just wants a reason to watch more.
The following season, Liverpool came very close to winning the title, but ultimately missed out on their first Premier League title. Liverpool scored 101 goals in the league this season, and the most obvious shortcoming is defense: no team can win the title without conceding 50 goals in a single season. Carragher's previous season-end highlights, as well as his analysis in front of the screen, made almost all Liverpool fans think they were one Carragher close to the title.
Of course, Carragher doesn't think so.
Similarly, Carragher did not regret not missing out on the league title in his career, but he regretted that he often failed to participate in the title competition more favorably. For example, in the 2005-06 season, Liverpool was only one goal away from the club's record of conceding goals in history, but the final point difference was only third behind Manchester United. Carragher said he remembered which teammate failed to keep up with his opponent and conceded the ball in the finale.
After becoming a commentator, Carragher's pursuit of detail became more obvious. He discusses the expected goals and explains the best defensive positions through VR technology. His podcasts gave him an in-depth look at the stories of some of his former teammates. His forthcoming second book, not a second autobiography, is an analysis of the most legendary game in history.
Karag himself appears only once in this book, the miraculous Miracle of Istanbul. However, he did not focus too much on Liverpool's big reversal, but tried to discuss how Milan's backline suddenly collapsed atypically.
In 2020, as in January 2005, Carragher sat at home, studying a video of the Milan defender four.
Next Issue: 58th, Carlos Tevez.
This article is compiled from the athletic, original author Michael Cox.
Original link: https://theathletic.com/1949368/2020/07/29/the-premier-league-60-no-59-jamie-carragher/
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